Jon Batiste grew up in Kenner, Louisiana, in a family of musicians. He played percussion in the family band before turning to piano at eleven. He later earned undergraduate and master's degrees from the Juilliard School in New York, combining family performance experience with conservatory training.
With other musicians, Batiste formed Stay Human. The ensemble became known for taking music into public spaces as well as performing on conventional stages. In 2012, he was appointed artistic director at large of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, a role that included educational initiatives and programming. He also became familiar to television audiences as bandleader for *The Late Show with Stephen Colbert*, a chapter documented in the Gordon Parks Foundation's 2017 tribute to him, in a role that began with the show's 2015 launch. By December 2022, a report about his appointment to Juilliard's board of trustees identified him as the program's former music director, extending his work with the school from his student years into governance.
Film composition brought a different kind of collaboration. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded the 2021 Oscar for original score to *Soul*, a film released in 2020, naming Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Batiste together.
In 2022, Batiste won five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year for *We Are*. The Recording Academy's account of his acceptance speech records his thanks to executive producer Ryan Lynn and his family. Batiste described music as continuing daily work. PBS's *Finding Your Roots* traced his family story through African American history.
