Queen Latifah to Take Part in Quincy Jones Tribute at 2025 Oscars
Queen Latifah is set to take part in a tribute to Quincy Jones on the 2025 Oscars, which are set for Sunday (March 2) at the Dolby Theater at Ovation Hollywood. Latifah, a longtime friend of Jones’, performed on two tracks on his 1995 album Q’s Jook Joint.
The news was announced by Raj Kapoor, the show’s executive producer and showrunner, during a press conference on Zoom with the creative team on Wednesday (Feb. 26). “One of the most exciting things I think that we’ve worked on this year is a musical performance that will tribute Quincy Jones,” said Kapoor, who is co-executive producing the show for the second year in a row (and is part of the Oscars creative team for the ninth time).
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“[Quincy] was the recipient of one of our Governors Awards [last] year, and we’ve planned and curated this beautiful moment that we hope will uplift the room, that will celebrate the spirit of Quincy and all of his greatness, and we are happy to say that Queen Latifah is part of that performance. You’ll have to tune in Sunday to see what we have in store, but it’s a beautiful moment, and we think it will make everybody feel really good.”
It’s no surprise that Jones will receive a special tribute on the show. The producer and musician, who died in November at age 91, made Oscar history several times. He was the first Black musician to be hired as music director on the annual Oscar telecast. In 1967, he became the first Black composer to receive an Oscar nomination for best original song. He is, to this day, the only Black composer with three nods in scoring categories, for his work on In Cold Blood (1967), The Wiz (1978) and The Color Purple (1985).
Will Smith, who starred in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which Jones executive produced, would have been a natural for the Jones tribute, but he was banned from all Academy Award events for 10 years in 2023 following his misbehavior on that year’s telecast. Smith was part of the tribute to Jones on the Grammy Awards on Feb. 2 (on which Kapoor was also an executive producer). He shared memories of working with Jones on the telecast.
In the Zoom call, the Oscars’ first-time music director Michael Bearden said he has long walked in Jones’ footsteps. “I’m from the South Side of Chicago. So was Quincy. He moved to New York, so did I. He moved to LA, so did I. Quincy is really the blueprint of what I’ve been able to do my entire career, and I’ve been really lucky to have him. He mentored everybody, but just to have some advice from him, he [was] very generous with what he did over the years, and I worked with him over the years.”
Production designer Alana Billingsley said that the orchestra will be very prominent on this year’s show. “One of my favorite things is that the orchestra is very present. We have given them a prominent space onstage and you get to see them throughout the night.”
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are expected to perform a Wicked medley to kick off the Oscars ceremony. Other performers on the show are Doja Cat, Raye and LISA of BLACKPINK. The 97th Oscars will also feature a special appearance by the Los Angeles Master Chorale.
Said Kapoor: “There are special moments that are planned and it’s about music, it’s about celebration, it’s about celebrating some really amazing pieces of film and even a Governor’s Award with Quincy Jones. The music performances are just really special and curated this year. And I think they speak to this year in film, and they also speak to icons and legends.”
In answer to a question about Erivo, who is the first Black British actress to receive two best actress nominations, Kapoor said “I think that Cynthia delivered an incredible performance this year. And there is a very special moment on the show. We can’t reveal what it is or where it is, but I think for any fans of Cynthia Erivo, you’re gonna get something that is hugely entertaining and full of joy and really celebrates her, her incredible talent and her place in the last year in music and in cinema.”
But Kapoor didn’t want to divulge too much about the show. “I mean we absolutely love the element of surprise. What I can say is [that even with] every presenter and every performer that’s already been announced, there’s still more to come. There are people that are not going to be announced. You will have to keep a sharp eye out for a few different cameos that happen throughout the evening.”
First-time show host Conan O’Brien lightheartedly explained the team’s reluctance. “The whole trick here in this business is to get people to watch to see what’s going to happen. See, this is a mistake I used to make. I used to tell people exactly what I was going to do long before I did it, and then no one tuned in. Then I learned, don’t tell people what you’re going to do. A magician taught me that.”
O’Brien has hosted the Primetime Emmys twice (in 2002 and 2006) and the MTV Movie Awards (in 2014). He has also hosted the White House Correspondents Dinner “and different things like that that have a degree of pressure,” he said. “And then this somehow, the Oscars feels like it’s all of that on steroids. It’s all of that bumped up to this other level. And I mean in every single way, yes, the pressure, but also all these wonderful things, the craftsmanship, the attention-to-detail, the thoughtfulness. I said yes to this happily ’cause I wanted to be part of this magical machine.
“This team, the Oscars team, they’re just incredible professionals. They know what they’re doing. They do beautiful work. And so it’s been a thrill for myself and for my head writer, Mike Sweeney, to come into this and we’ve always felt welcomed and it’s like for the first time getting to drive a Ferrari. It’s just absolutely the resources and the capabilities that this team has. … So that is something that I’m never gonna get jaded about. Haven’t experienced it throughout my career, sometimes here and there, but they’re just incredible.
O’Brien said he talked to past hosts Billy Crystal and Jimmy Kimmel about the hosting gig. Crystal has hosted the show nine times; Kimmel, four times. O’Brien said they have been generous and supportive, something, he suggested, that marked a sharp difference from his experiences in the late-night talk-show world circa 2010.
“I’ve spoken with Billy Crystal, who I think is the all-time great, and mastered the hosting of the Oscars, in my opinion, defined it, and will always be the top, I think. And one of the first contacts I had was from Jimmy Kimmel and his wife Molly, who’ve done a beautiful job with this show. He reached out to me and said, ‘Let’s get together.’ I went on Jimmy’s show last night. We talked about it. [Jimmy and Molly] could not have been lovelier to me. They’ve been very supportive and very helpful and so that’s nice because I came up in a very different era of late night when not everybody was chummy and friendly and you didn’t just pick up the phone. So this new era where people are so lovely to each other is something I don’t take for granted.”
Asked if he was going to lean in to the “fraught” political moment we’re in, or attempt to float above it, O’Brien said, “I think as host I cannot ignore the moment we’re in, but I also have to remember it’s threading a needle. I also have to remember what we’re here to celebrate and infuse the show with positivity and also shine a light on all these people who’ve worked incredibly hard, not just A-list celebrities but people that you never see, craftsmen, craftspeople that have spent years making these films. And so it’s a difficult line to walk but I’m determined to figure it out.”
Supervising choreographer Mandy Moore said they will aim to recapture some of the excitement of last year’s show-stopping Ryan Gosling performance of “I’m Just Ken.” “I can definitely say if you liked Kenergy, you’re going to love everything we’re doing this year because it’s in the same vein of joy and celebration.”
Kapoor said the show will have a couple of themes. “One is that we are honoring the city of Los Angeles. That’s of course a really important theme. There’s been so many people that have been touched by this devastation [caused by the wildfires that broke out on Jan. 7]. We really wanted to create some really beautiful moments on stage that celebrate this amazing city that we live in, all the amazing films that have been filmed here, and just have a really uplifting and beautiful message that we hope really touches everybody who watches the show.
“There will be a charitable component that people will be able to interact with and they’re free to donate if they would like to. And there’s special moments that are gonna happen throughout the show, but there’s been a lot of thought put into what the right tone is.
“It’s always an honor to work on this show,” Kapoor said. “It’s an honor and a privilege. And I think everybody who comes in who works behind-the-scenes, the hundreds of crew that work on this, we always want them to feel like it’s a special moment. This is now my ninth year, I think, working on the show, and it’s no different.”
Other creative team members on the Zoom call were executive producer Katy Mullan, co-executive producer Rob Paine, producer/writer Mike Sweeney, and writer Jon Macks.
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