50 free Jon Batiste trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Jon Batiste trivia quiz covers the Louisiana piano prodigy from a famous New Orleans musical family who led Stephen Colbert's Late Show band for seven years, scored a Pixar film with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and won Album of the Year at the Grammys with We Are. The easy questions cover the landmarks: his hometown, his band, the talk show, the Oscar and the Grammy sweep. From there the quiz moves through Juilliard, the album recorded entirely on subway trains, the 'love riots', Hollywood Africans, World Music Radio, Big Money and his symphony at Carnegie Hall. The harder half is for the fans who watched every night: the video-game composer he calls an early inspiration, the marching band on the single 'We Are', the Super Bowl anthem, the Madonna street performance, the documentary about his wife's illness, and the Billy Preston role in Saturday Night. Nothing here quotes a lyric; the questions are about the man, the records and the stories. Every answer was checked against Jon Batiste's encyclopaedia entry and its companion articles before publishing. If you enjoy this, try our jazz and Grammy Album of the Year quizzes next.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Jon Batiste was born in Metairie and raised in Kenner, both in which state?
Louisiana
He comes from a New Orleans musical dynasty that includes Lionel Batiste of the Treme Brass Band.
Q 02Batiste led the house band for which talk-show host from 2015 to 2022?
Stephen Colbert
Colbert hired him after a 'stirring' performance of 'Express Yourself' on The Colbert Report in 2014.
Q 03The name of Batiste's band Stay Human refers to the power of live music to counter what?
A 'plug in, tune out' society
He formed the group in 2005 with classmates Phil Kuehn on bass and Joe Saylor on drums.
Q 04Batiste won an Academy Award for co-composing the score of which 2020 Pixar film?
Soul
He shared the Oscar, Golden Globe, Grammy and BAFTA with two co-composers better known for their rock band.
Q 05Which Batiste album won Album of the Year at the 2022 Grammys?
We Are
He was the second Black artist to win the award since Herbie Hancock in 2008.
Q 06Which two composers shared the Soul score credits and awards with Batiste?
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Reznor and Ross are best known as Nine Inch Nails and for scoring The Social Network.
Q 07Batiste earned how many nominations at the 64th Grammy Awards, the most of any artist that year?
Eleven
Eight were for We Are and three for Soul; he won five.
Q 08At which conservatory did Batiste earn both his bachelor's and master's degrees in jazz studies?
Juilliard
He met bandmates Phil Kuehn and Joe Saylor there in 2004.
Q 09At what age did Batiste switch from drums and percussion to the piano, at his mother's suggestion?
Eleven
He took classical lessons from Shirley Herstein every Saturday for seven years.
Q 10Batiste sharpened his piano skills as a boy by transcribing music from what?
Video games
Street Fighter Alpha, Final Fantasy VII and Sonic the Hedgehog were on the playlist.
Q 11Which Final Fantasy composer has Batiste named as one of his 'earliest inspirations'?
Nobuo Uematsu
He told Uematsu he started composing at 10 by altering Final Fantasy melodies on a Kawai keyboard.
Q 12Batiste attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts alongside which future star?
Trombone Shorty
Trombone Shorty later guested on We Are; Batiste graduated in 2004.
Q 13At what age did Batiste release his debut album, Times in New Orleans?
17
At eight he had already been playing percussion in the Batiste Brothers Band.
Batiste made his debut at which famous Amsterdam concert hall in 2007, aged 20?
Q 21Batiste's single 'We Are' features the Marching 100 of which New Orleans institution, his alma mater?
St. Augustine High School
The Marching 100 appeared on the June 2020 single; the album also features Mavis Staples and Zadie Smith.
Q 22Where did Batiste record much of We Are, over six days in September 2019?
In his dressing room
It was largely finished before 2020, but its themes reflect the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests.
Q 23Who wrote the liner notes for We Are?
Quincy Jones
Batiste's wife, Suleika Jaouad, took the photographs.
The Concertgebouw
He also ran music clinics in Dutch inner-city schools and brought six young Dutch musicians to New York for a show of his own.
Q 15Stay Human's 2011 album MY N.Y. was recorded entirely where?
On New York City Subway trains
The idea came to Batiste after asking himself how to connect with people.
Q 16What does Batiste call the impromptu street performances his band leads?
Love riots
Wynton Marsalis has been among the notable musicians spotted joining in.
Q 17What was Batiste's 2013 album with Stay Human, which topped the Billboard jazz chart for a month?
Social Music
Its single 'Express Yourself' was co-written with Austin Bis.
Q 18Batiste's 2018 solo debut for Verve, with 'Don't Stop' as lead single, was called what?
Hollywood Africans
He toured US festivals with the Dap-Kings ahead of its release.
Q 19Batiste's cover of which traditional song earned a 2019 Grammy nomination?
St. James Infirmary Blues
In 2017 he had released 'Ohio' with Leon Bridges and Gary Clark Jr.
Q 20Batiste appeared as himself in three seasons of which HBO drama set in New Orleans?
Treme
He also played T.K. Hazelton in Spike Lee's Red Hook Summer and composed its Hammond organ music.
Q 24Batiste's 2021 live EP, released exclusively on Spotify, was recorded in one day at which studio?
Electric Lady Studios
The studio was built by Jimi Hendrix in Greenwich Village.
Q 25In October 2021 Batiste sang 'Like a Prayer' on the streets of Harlem alongside which star?
Madonna
It was a surprise promotion for her concert film Madame X.
Q 26Batiste conducted the premiere of his American Symphony in September 2022 at which venue?
Carnegie Hall
Variety called it 'a handsome orchestral debut' and 'a truly shining hour'.
Q 27The documentary American Symphony was executive-produced by which couple's production company?
Barack and Michelle Obama
Netflix and Higher Ground acquired it after its Telluride premiere; 'It Never Went Away' earned an Oscar nomination.
Q 28American Symphony follows Batiste's year while his wife battles a recurrence of which illness?
Leukemia
Suleika Jaouad is a best-selling author and journalist; the two met as teenagers at band camp.
Q 29Who directed American Symphony?
Matthew Heineman
He also wrote, shot and edited the film, which premiered at Telluride in August 2023.
Q 30Batiste's 2023 concept album featuring Lana Del Rey, Lil Wayne and NewJeans was titled what?
World Music Radio
It was supported by the single 'Calling Your Name'.