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Oscars 2025: Queen Latifa Gets Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, More on Their Feet With Her Rocking Tribute to Quincy Jones
Queen Latifah honored Quincy Jones at the Oscars with a rousing Ease on Down the Road tribute, as Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg reflected on his lasting legacy.
The late Quincy Jones received a heartfelt tribute from Queen Latifah at the 2025 Academy Awards. The iconic record producer, who died in November 2024 at age 91, was among the top honorees at the Governors Awards ceremony, hosted by the same board as the Oscars, in November, just days after his passing. The Academy announced in June 2024 that Jones would receive an honorary Oscar to recognize his contributions to film through his music.
Paying homage to The Color Purple producer onstage at the Oscars ceremony on Sunday, Latifah delivered a rousing rendition of Charlie Smalls’ song Ease on Down the Road from the musical The Wiz, starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.
The high-energy performance, featuring Latifah in a glistening gold dress alongside several backup dancers and singers, brought the audience to their feet. Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Colman Domingo, and more in the Dolby Theatre crowd were seen rocking along to the music.
Last month, Jones also received a tribute at the 2025 Grammys. Erivo and Herbie Hancock took the stage first to honor the late music legend, as well as the victims of the wildfires in LA. A lineup of acclaimed artists, including Stevie Wonder, Janelle Monáe, Lainey Wilson, and Jacob Collier, paid tribute to the legendary musician and the enduring spirit of Tinseltown.
Jones had 28 Grammy Awards to his name.
Before Latifah took the stage, Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg, who starred in The Color Purple, remembered Jones. “One’s first thought is musical genius—and for good reason,” Winfrey said before citing Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Ray Charles as artists with whom the late musician worked.
“When we talk about Black excellence, we talk about Quincy,” added Goldberg from beside Winfrey, who then credited Jones for launching her own career, saying, “He actually discovered me for The Color Purple, which was my first film.”
“Quincy was love—he lived it out in human form and poured that love into others and into his work.”
Besides The Wiz, which was Jones’ first Oscar-nominated project, his scores appear in The Getaway, The Italian Job, In Cold Blood, and more.
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