“You probably wouldn’t even know who Will Smith was if it wasn’t for Quincy Jones.”

Will Smith with Herbie Hancock at the 2025 Grammys. PHOTO: VALERIE MACON/AFP VIA GETTY
Will Smith led a moving tribute at the 2025 Grammy Awards to Quincy Jones, who died on Nov. 3 at the age of 91. The tribute marks one of Smith’s first appearances at an awards show since the 2022 Oscars slap.

“This past year, we lost one of the most groundbreaking and influential figures of our times — Quincy Jones,” Smith said on the Crypto.com Arena stage beside Herbie Hancock, who played “Killer Joe” on the piano. “In his 91 years, Q touched countless lives, but I have to say, he changed mine forever. You probably wouldn’t even know who Will Smith was if it wasn’t for Quincy Jones.”

Smith then handed off the tribute to superstar after superstar, from Cynthia Erivo singing “Fly Me to the Moon,” to Hancock and Stevie Wonder leading the entire auditorium in a “We Are the World” singalong, to Janelle Monáe channeling Michael Jackson for a “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” performance.

Before Monáe got the crowd to their feet, Smith regaled attendees with a story from the set of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which Jones executive produced.

“Quincy Jones was a mentor, a friend, a father figure. I wanna share a little story about Quincy,” he said. Smith then recounted an early on-set experience in which he was struggling with a particularly difficult scene. “Somebody said, ‘Will, Quincy wants to see you.’” Smith remembered asking if it could wait, to which Jones’s aide needed only to give him a look to remind the young actor who it was who was waiting on him.

“He’s standing, he’s got his hands on his hips, and he’s at the snack table looking at the snacks. I was like, ‘What’s up, Q?’ Q said, ‘So this is the food that you think people on your set should eat?’ I was like, ‘Quincy, I don’t do the snacks on this show’ and he said, ‘Who’s name on the script?’” Smith recalled. He recalled Jones adding, “You want these people to work 16 or 18 hours a day so you realize your dreams, and this is the food you think they should eat? I don’t care if it’s not in the budget. You pay for it out of your own pocket.”

Smith said that the wisdom Jones passed on during this encounter “became the absolute center of how I wanted my career. He said, ‘It is your job to take care of these people,’ and I have done everything I can throughout my career to live up to Quincy’s demand.”

“Quincy Jones always took care of people, and that’s how he fed the world,” Smith continued. “Quincy taught us all that life is a feast, and you don’t stop till you get enough.”

Smith’s appearance at the Grammys comes a week after he made his return to music official by unveiling “Beautiful Scars,” his new track with Big Sean, and its accompanying Matrix-themed music video. That same day, Smith announced his first solo album in 20 years, titled Based on a True Story.

Smith appeared at last year’s BET Awards, where he performed his song “You Can Make It.” His other recent music projects include the Sean Paul collaboration “Light Em Up,” which was featured on the soundtrack for Bad Boys: Ride or Die, and “Work of Art,” a collaboration with Russ featuring Smith’s son, Jaden Smith. Smith also recently played two sold-out shows at San Diego’s Observatory North Park.