The Roots are an American hip hop/neo soul band, formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
The Roots served as the house band on NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon from 2009 to 2014, and in the same role on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon since 2014.