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John Legend: A New Message Last Change
John Legend: A New Message Last Change
John Legend: A New Message Last Change
John Legend
Singer
Occupation
songwriter
record producer
actor
film producer
theatre director
philanthropist
Years active 1997–present
Television Underground
Sherman's Showcase
Rhythm + Flow
The Voice
Chrissy Teigen
Spouse(s)
(m. 2013)
Children 2
Musical career
Genres R&B
soul
pop
Instruments Vocals
piano
keyboards
Labels Columbia
GOOD
Sony Urban
Dave Tozer
Estelle
Kanye West
Rick Ross
The Roots
will.i.am
Website johnlegend.com
John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John
Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, film producer, and
philanthropist. Prior to the release of Legend's debut album Get Lifted (2004), he
collaborated with already-established artists and signed to Kanye West's GOOD Music.
Legend has sung on Jay-Z's "Encore", Alicia Keys's "You Don't Know My
Name", Dilated Peoples' "This Way", Slum Village's "Selfish", Fort Minor's "High Road",
and played piano on Lauryn Hill's "Everything Is Everything". Legend's single "All of Me"
from his fourth studio album Love in the Future (2013) was a Billboard Hot 100 number-
one hit.
In 2007, Legend received the Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of
Fame.[1] Legend won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and Golden Globe
Award in 2015 for co-writing the song "Glory" from the film Selma. He has also won
eleven Grammy Awards. In 2017, Legend received a Tony Award for co-
producing Jitney for the Broadway stage.[2] In 2018, Legend portrayed Jesus
Christ in NBC's adaptation of the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. He received
a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his acting role, and won for his role as a
producer of the show, making him one of 16 people and the first black man to have won
all four of the following awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (EGOT).[3][4] Legend is
also the second youngest person to have achieved this milestone. Since 2019, Legend
has been featured as a coach on The Voice.
Contents
1Early life
2Career
o 2.1Career beginnings
o 2.22004–2007: Breakthrough success
o 2.32008–2010: Rising popularity
o 2.42011–2015: Touring years
o 2.52016–present: International recognition and resurgence
3Philanthropy
4Personal life
5Discography
6Tours
7Filmography
o 7.1Television
o 7.2Film
8Awards and nominations
9See also
10References
11External links
Early life[edit]
Legend was born John Roger Stephens on December 28, 1978, in Springfield, Ohio.
[5]
He is one of four children[6] of Phyllis Elaine (née Lloyd), a seamstress, and Ronald
Lamar Stephens, a factory worker at International Harvester (now Navistar).[7][8][9][10] His
father was a drummer, while "his mother sang and directed the church choir, and his
grandmother was the church organist." [11] In 2004, Legend stated that his parents were
divorced for 12 years before reuniting. [12] Legend was homeschooled by his mother.[13] He
began playing the piano at age 4. At the age of 7, he performed with his church choir.
[14]
Because of his academic talent, he skipped two grades. [11]
At the age of 12, Legend attended North High School in Springfield, Ohio, from which
he graduated as salutatorian of his class four years later.[11] At the age of 15, Legend
won a Black History Month essay competition run by McDonalds, following the prompt
"How do you intend to make Black history?" with an essay about how he intended to be
a successful musician, according to an interview on the Carlos Watson Show.[15] Legend
was offered admission to Harvard University and scholarships to Georgetown
University and Morehouse College;[16] he ultimately decided to attend the University of
Pennsylvania.
At college, Legend served as the president and musical director of the co-ed jazz and
pop a cappella group the Counterparts. His lead vocals on the group's recording of Joan
Osborne's "One of Us" (written by fellow Penn alum Eric Bazilian of the Hooters)
received critical acclaim, landing the song on the track list of the 1998 Best of Collegiate
a Cappella compilation CD.[17] Legend was also a member of the Sphinx Senior
Society and Onyx Senior Honor Society. While in college, Legend was introduced
to Lauryn Hill by a friend. Hill hired him to play piano on "Everything Is Everything", a
song from her album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.[16] He graduated magna cum
laude with a bachelor's degree in English with an emphasis on African-American
literature[18] in 1999.[19]
Career[edit]
Career beginnings[edit]
After graduating from college, Legend worked as a management consultant at
the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and began producing, writing, and recording his
own music.[11] He released two albums independently: his self-titled demo (2000)
and Live at Jimmy's Uptown (2001), which he sold at his shows. He subsequently
began working on his demo and began sending his work to various record labels. [13][12]
In 2001, Devo Springsteen introduced Legend to Kanye West, then an up-and-coming
hip-hop artist; Legend was hired to sing during the hooks of West's music. After signing
to West's label, he chose his stage name from an idea that was given to him by poet J.
Ivy, due to what he perceived as an "old-school sound". J. Ivy stated, "I heard your
music and it reminds me of that music from the old school. You sound like one of the
legends. As a matter of fact, that's what I'm going to call you from now on! I'm going to
call you John Legend." After J. Ivy continued to call him by the new moniker "John
Legend", others quickly caught on, including Kanye West. Despite Stephens' reluctance
to adopt a stage name, he eventually announced his new artist name as John Legend. [16]
[20]
2004–2007: Breakthrough success[edit]
Legend released his debut album, Get Lifted, on GOOD Music in December 2004. It
featured production by Kanye West, Dave Tozer, and will.i.am, and debuted at number
7 on the US Billboard 200, selling 116,000 copies in its first week. [21] It went on to sell
540,300 copies in the United States and was certified gold by the RIAA.[22][23] An
international success, Get Lifted also reached number one on the Norwegian Albums
Chart and peaked within the top ten in the Netherlands and Sweden, resulting in
worldwide sales of 850,000 copies.[16] Critically acclaimed, it won the 2006 Grammy
Award for Best R&B Album, and earned Legend another two nominal awards for Best
New Artist and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. Altogether, the album produced
four singles, including debut single "Used to Love U", which entered the top 30 of the
New Zealand and UK Singles Chart, and Grammy Award-winning "Ordinary People"
which peaked at 24 on the Billboard Hot 100. Legend also co-wrote Janet Jackson's "I
Want You", which was certified platinum and received a nomination for Best Female
R&B Vocal Performance at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards.[24]
A highly sought after collaborator, Legend was featured on several records the following
years. He appeared on albums by Fort Minor, Sérgio Mendes, Jay Z, Mary J. Blige, the
Black Eyed Peas, Stephen Colbert, Rich Boy, MSTRKRFT, Chemistry, and Fergie,
among others. Legend also tentatively worked with Michael Jackson on a future album
for which he had written one song.[25] In August 2006, Legend appeared in an episode
of Sesame Street. He performed a song entitled "It Feels Good When You Sing a
Song", a duet with Hoots the Owl.[26] He also performed during the pregame show
of Super Bowl XL in Detroit and the halftime show at the 2006 NBA All-Star Game.[27][28]
In October 2006, Legend's second album, Once Again, was released. Legend co-wrote
and co-produced the bulk of the album, which saw him reteaming with West and
will.i.am but also spawned production from Raphael Saadiq, Craig Street, Sa-Ra, Eric
Hudson, Devo Springsteen, Dave Tozer and Avenue.[29] Released to major commercial
success, it reached number three on the Billboard 200 and debuted on top of the Top
R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It was eventually certified platinum by the RIAA, and
reached gold status in Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. At the 2007
Grammy Awards ceremony, the song "Heaven" was awarded the Grammy Award for
Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, while lead single "Save Room" received a nod in
the Best Male Pop Vocal category. Legend won a second Grammy that year for "Family
Affair", a collaboration with Sly & the Family Stone, Joss Stone and Van Hunt, for the
former's Different Strokes by Different Folks album.[citation needed]
2008–2010: Rising popularity[edit]
Legend performing at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania in 2009
Legend was one of the few celebrities to appear and speak out in
the Lifetime documentary Surviving R. Kelly.[54] The six-part docuseries details sex abuse
allegations spread over four decades against acclaimed R&B singer R. Kelly.[55] It
highlights women who claim that the singer and record producer for decades used his
power and influence to sexually and physically abuse women and underage girls.
[54]
Legend lambasted R. Kelly during his interview in the final episode of the series,
asserting that "R. Kelly has brought so much pain to so many people. Time's up for R.
Kelly."[56][57]
Despite countless public allegations and controversies concerning Kelly, Legend stands
as the only major recording artist willing to come forward and speak against him in the
documentary.[54][56] In response to fans who labeled him as "brave" for his actions, Legend
stated the following on Twitter ahead of the program's debut:[57] "To everyone telling me
how courageous I am for appearing in the doc, it didn't feel risky at all. I believe these
women and don't give a fuck about protecting a serial child rapist. Easy
decision."[56] Executive producer Dream Hampton revealed that it was "incredibly difficult"
to get men and women who had artistically collaborated with Kelly to come forward,
including those who had criticized him. During an interview with Detroit Free Press she
said, "We asked Lady Gaga. We asked Erykah Badu. We asked Céline Dion. We
asked Jay-Z. We asked Dave Chappelle. [They're] people who have been critical of him.
That makes John Legend even more of a hero for me." [55]
On May 21, 2019, Legend was the winning coach on The Voice and won the
competition with his artist Maelyn Jarmon.[58]
In November, Legend was named People's Sexiest Man Alive.[59][60][61]
In 2020, Legend was working on a seventh album. On May 13, 2020, he announced the
album would be titled Bigger Love. It was released on June 19.
On May 28, 2020, Legend received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of
Music.[62]
Legend is featured on Carrie Underwood's Christmas album My Gift. Legend wrote his
featured track entitled "Hallelujah".[63]
Philanthropy[edit]
Legend performed a benefit concert in Springfield, Ohio in 2005 in support of a tax levy
for the Springfield City School District.[64]
In May 2007, Legend partnered with Tide laundry detergent to raise awareness about
the need of families in St. Bernard Parish (Chalmette, Louisiana), one of the areas most
devastated by Hurricane Katrina; he spent a day folding laundry at the Tide "clean start"
mobile laundromat and visited homes that Tide was helping to rebuild in that
community. On July 7, 2007, Legend participated in the Live Earth concert in London,
performing "Ordinary People". After reading Professor Jeffrey Sachs' book The End of
Poverty, Legend started his Show Me Campaign in 2007. In this campaign, Legend
called on his fans to help him in his initiative for residents in Bosaso Village, Somalia [65]
[failed verification]
and non-profit organizations partnered with the campaign.
In early 2008, he began touring with Alexus Ruffin and Professor Jeff Sachs
of Columbia University's Earth Institute to promote sustainable development as an
achievable goal. Legend joined Sachs as a keynote speaker and performer at the
inaugural Millennium Campus Conference. Legend then joined the Board of Advisors of
the Millennium Campus Network (MCN), and has aided MCN programs through online
support and funding fellowships for MCN summer interns through the Show Me
Campaign. In 2009, Legend gave AIDS Service Center NYC permission to remix his
song "If You're Out There" to create a music video promoting HIV/AIDS awareness and
testing.[66]
On January 22, 2010, he performed "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" on
the Hope for Haiti Now telethon show.[67] On September 8, 2010, John Legend joined the
national board of Teach For America.[68] Legend also sits on the boards of the Education
Equality Project, the Harlem Village Academies, and Stand for Children. He serves on
the Harlem Village Academies' National Leadership Board. On September 9, 2010, he
performed "Coming Home" on the Colbert Report as a tribute song for the end
of combat operations in Iraq, and for the active troops and the veterans of the United
States Armed Forces.[69] In 2011, he contributed the track "Love I've Never Known" to
the Red Hot Organization's most recent album Red Hot+Rio 2. The album is a follow-up
to the 1996 Red Hot+Rio. Proceeds from the album sales were donated to raise
awareness and money to fight AIDS/HIV and related health and social issues. On
March 6, 2012, John Legend was appointed by the World Economic Forum to
the Forum of Young Global Leaders.[70] Later that year, Legend stopped by Children's
Hospital Los Angeles for a surprise visit and acoustic performance as a part of Get Well
Soon Tour.[71] On June 1, 2013, Legend performed at Gucci's global concert event in
London whose campaign, "Chime for Change", aims to raise awareness of women's
issues in education, health and justice.[72] At a press conference before his performance,
Legend identified himself as a feminist saying, "All men should be feminists. If men care
about women's rights the world will be a better place." [73]
In 2016, Legend co-signed a letter to the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-
Moon calling for a more humane drug policy, along with people such as Richard
Branson, Jane Fonda and George Shultz.[74] The following year, Legend appeared on
Salem State University's speaker series and was recognized by Voices Against Injustice
(formerly known as the Salem Award Foundation for Human Rights and Social Justice)
as the inaugural Salem Advocate for Social Justice.[75] Also in 2017 Legend donated
$500,000 to Springfield City School District to renovate an auditorium, which is named
in his honor, within the Springfield Center of Innovation. [76] He performed at the John
Legend Theater on October 9, 2016.[77] In 2018, he starred in an animated virtual-reality
short film written and directed by Eric Darnell, titled Crow: The Legend, together
with Oprah Winfrey, telling a Native American origin tale.[78]
Personal life[edit]
Legend met model Chrissy Teigen in 2006 when director Nabil Elderkin introduced the
two during her appearance in the music video for his song "Stereo".[79][80] They became
engaged in December 2011[81][82] and were married on September 14, 2013 in Como,
Italy.[83] The 2013 song "All of Me" was written and is dedicated to her; the music video
was reportedly displayed at their wedding. The couple has a daughter born in April
2016[84] and a son born in May 2018.[85] Both children were conceived via in vitro
fertilization.[86] On a public ancestry reveal on the PBS series Finding Your Roots,
Legend is 64% African, 32% European, and 4% Native American. [87] The couple
announced in August 2020 that they were expecting a third child. [88] On September 30,
2020, Teigen suffered a pregnancy loss.[89]
Discography[edit]
Main article: John Legend discography
Studio albums
Get Lifted (2004)
Once Again (2006)
Evolver (2008)
Love in the Future (2013)
Darkness and Light (2016)
A Legendary Christmas (2018)
Bigger Love (2020)
Collaborations
Tours[edit]
Get Lifted Tour (2005)
Once Again Tour (2007)
Evolver Tour (2009)
Love in the Future World Tour (2014)
Darkness and Light World Tour (2017)
Bigger Love Tour (2020)
Filmography[edit]
Television[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
2015–
Lip Sync Battle Himself 6 episodes
present
2016–
Underground N/A Producer
2017
2019–
The Voice Himself/Coach Season 16-present
present
Ask the StoryBots The King of Music Episode: "How do you make music?"
2019
2008
Marcus
Soul Men
Hooks
2016
Also co-wrote/performed "Start a Fire"
La La Land Keith
for film's soundtrack
2017 Crow: The Legend Crow Voice role, Also executive producer[91]
See also[edit]
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
References[edit]
1. ^ "Songwriters Hall of Fame". Induction for John Legend. Artisan
News. June 22, 2007. Retrieved June 26, 2009.
2. ^ Platon, Adelle (June 11, 2017). "John Legend Wins Tony Award for
'Jitney,' is One Emmy Away from EGOT Status". Billboard.
Retrieved June 12, 2017.
3. ^ Wanshel, Elyse (September 10, 2018). "John Legend Becomes First
Black Man To Reach EGOT Status". Huffington Post.
Retrieved September 11, 2018.
4. ^ Scheibelhut, Ashley (September 11, 2018). "John Legend Is First
Black Man To Achieve EGOT Status". Chill Magazine.
Retrieved October 9, 2018.
5. ^ Southern, Nathan. "John Legend – Biography". Allmovie.
Retrieved April 30, 2020.
6. ^ Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. (March 24, 2012). "John Legend and Wanda
Sykes". Finding Your Roots. Episode 9. Event occurs at 10:45. PBS.
Retrieved June 23, 2013.
7. ^ "Soul savior?". The Washington Times. April 14, 2005.
Retrieved June 27, 2009.
8. ^ Simpson, Dave (August 22, 2005). "Legend in his own
lunchtime". The Guardian. London. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
9. ^ "John Legend Fans On Iseecolor". Mingle City. Archived from the
original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
10. ^ Gates, H.L.; Altshuler, D. (2014). Finding Your Roots: The Official
Companion to the PBS Series. University of North Carolina
Press. ISBN 9781469618012. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
11. ^ Jump up to:a b c d "Singer/songwriter John Legend got early start". USA
Today. July 28, 2005. Archived from the original on August 2, 2019.
Retrieved June 27, 2009.
12. ^ Jump up to:a b Hall, Rashaun (October 18, 2004). "Kanye's Hook Singer,
John Legend, Ready For The Spotlight". MTV News. Retrieved July
22, 2009.
13. ^ Jump up to:a b Watson, Margeaux (November 3, 2006). "Spotlight: John
Legend". Entertainment Weekly. Time. Retrieved July 22, 2009.
14. ^ Statements made on "Music Live Series with John Legend." May 22,
2020.
15. ^ The Real Legend Behind John + Chrissy, retrieved April 2, 2021
16. ^ Jump up to: Newsome, Melba (October 22, 2006). "Music; What
a b c d
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has
media related to John
Legend.
Official website
John Legend at TED
"Estelle talks relationship with John Legend, American
lifestyle and more [NFTR]". GRM Daily.
John Legend at IMDb
show
John Legend
show
Awards for John Legend
show
People who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards
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WorldCat Identities: lccn-no2004109348
Categories:
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