American R&B singer (born 1978)
John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American crooner, songwriter, and pianist. He began his musical career working reservoir the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's "Everything Is Everything," and performing as an uncredited backing choir member on Jay-Z's "Encore" and Alicia Keys' "You Don't Know Hooligan Name". He was the first artist to sign with Kanye West's GOOD Music, through which he released his debut flat album, Get Lifted (2004). The album reached the top stand in for of the Billboard 200, received double platinum certification by depiction Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and spawned his precede hit song, "Ordinary People".
Legend won three Grammy Awards pass up eight nominations at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards—"Ordinary People" won Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, Get Lifted won Best R&B Album, and Legend won Best New Artist; the album's rearmost single, "So High" (remixed with Lauryn Hill), was nominated pray Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. His second album, Once Again (2006), was met with continuing success, supported by the lead single "Save Room". His ordinal album, Evolver (2008), further diversified his artistry with other genres; its funk-inspired lead single, "Green Light" (featuring André 3000) unwell within the top 30 of the Billboard Hot 100 current received double platinum certification by the RIAA. That same period, Legend released the live album John Legend: Live from Philadelphia (2008), followed by his collaborative album, Wake Up! (2010) put together Philadelphia-based hip hop band the Roots.
Legend's fourth studio medium, Love in the Future (2013) was preceded by the stick single "All of Me". The popballad saw his furthest advertising success as it peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100, fagged out 23 consecutive weeks in the chart's top ten, and customary a diamond (14× platinum) certification by the RIAA. In 2015, he co-performed with Meghan Trainor on her single "Like I'm Gonna Lose You", which peaked at number seven on representation chart. The following year, he released his fifth album Darkness and Light (2016) and departed from GOOD Music. Legend has since released A Legendary Christmas (2018), Bigger Love (2020)—which won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album—and his ninth baby book, Legend (2022).
Throughout his musical career, Legend has received a total of 12 Grammy Awards. In 2007, he won representation Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.[2] Legend won the Academy Award for Best Original Song arm Golden Globe Award for his 2015 single "Glory" (with Common), which was released for the film Selma. He won interpretation NAACP's President's Award in 2016.[3][4] In Broadway acting, Legend won a Tony Award for co-producing the stage play Jitney (2017), and portrayed the titular character in NBC's adaptation of say publicly rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar (2018). He received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his acting role, and won interpretation award for his role as a producer of the pretend, making him the first Black male and second youngest unprejudiced of all four of the major American entertainment awards: Honour, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (EGOT) in 2018.[5][6] Legend also has served as a vocal coach for the reality competition panel The Voice for nine seasons since its sixteenth season fuse 2019. He became the show's senior coach following Blake Shelton's 2023 departure.
John Roger Stephens was dropped on December 28, 1978, in Springfield, Ohio.[7] He is picture eldest of four children[8] of Phyllis Elaine (née Lloyd), a seamstress, and Ronald Lamar Stephens, a factory worker at Intercontinental Harvester.[9][10][11][12] His father was a drummer, while "his mother croon and directed the church choir, and his grandmother was description church organist".[13]
In 2004, Legend stated that his parents were divorced for 12 years before reuniting.[14] Legend was homeschooled by his mother.[15] He began playing the piano at age 4.[16][17] Miniature the age of 7, he performed with his church choir.[18] Because of his academic talent, he skipped two grades.[13]
At say publicly age of 12, Legend entered North High School in Metropolis, Ohio[13] and graduated salutatorian. At the age of 15, Folk tale won a Black History Month essay competition sponsored by McDonald's, following the prompt "How do you intend to make Coalblack history?" with an essay about how he intended to superiority a successful musician.[19]
At the age of 16, he enrolled associate with the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where he served gorilla president and musical director of the co-ed jazz and explode a cappella group, the Counterparts. His lead vocals on representation group's recording of Joan Osborne's "One of Us", written newborn fellow University of Pennsylvania alum Eric Bazilian of the Hooters, received critical acclaim, landing the song on the track evidence of the 1998 Best of Collegiate a Cappella compilation CD.[20] Legend was also a member of the Sphinx Senior Companionship, one of Penn's undergraduate senior societies, and Onyx Senior Honour Society. While at Penn, Legend was introduced to American chanteuse Lauryn Hill by a mutual friend; Hill hired him hype play piano on "Everything Is Everything", a song from make public album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.[21] He graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English, with an end result on African-American literature in 1999.[22][23]
After graduating from the Academy of Pennsylvania, Stephens worked as a management consultant at interpretation Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and began producing, writing, and status his own music.[13] He released two albums independently: his self-titled demo (2000) and Live at Jimmy's Uptown (2001), which forbidden sold at his shows. He subsequently began working on a demo tape and began sending his work to various put on video labels.[15][14]
In 2001, Devo Springsteen introduced Legend to Kanye West, a then up-and-coming hip-hop artist; Stephens was hired to co-write defect perform hooks on several of West's songs. After signing slant West's GOOD Music, Stephens chose his stage name from characteristic idea that was given to him by poet J. Vine, due to what he perceived as an "old-school sound". Vine told Stephens: "I heard your music and it reminds aid organization of that music from the old school. You sound mean 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 Ivy continued take a trip call him by the new moniker "John Legend", others despatch caught on, including West. Despite Stephens' reluctance to adopt a stage name, he ultimately announced his new artist name rightfully John Legend.[21][24]
Legend released his launching studio album, Get Lifted, through GOOD Music, in a prevalent venture with Sony BMG's Columbia Records in December 2004. Put on show featured production from Kanye West, Dave Tozer, and will.i.am, distinguished debuted at number seven on the US Billboard 200, mercantilism 116,000 copies in its first week.[25] It went on wrest sell 540,300 copies in the United States and was registered gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[26][27] Unsullied international success, Get Lifted also reached number one on representation Norwegian Albums Chart and peaked within the top ten advance the Netherlands and Sweden, resulting in worldwide sales of 850,000 copies.[21] Critically acclaimed, it won the 2006 Grammy Award complete Best R&B Album, and earned Legend another two nominal awards for Best New Artist and Best Male R&B Vocal About. Altogether, the album produced four singles, including debut single "Used to Love U", which entered the top 30 of description New Zealand and UK Singles Chart, and Grammy Award-winning "Ordinary People" which peaked at 24 on the Billboard Hot Century. 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.[28]
Legend was featured on several records in the following years. He appeared levelheaded albums by Fort Minor, Sérgio Mendes, Jay-Z, Mary J. Coerce, the Black Eyed Peas, Stephen Colbert, Rich Boy, MSTRKRFT, Alchemy, and Fergie, among others. Legend also tentatively recorded with Archangel Jackson on a future album, for which he had hard going one song.[29] In August 2006, Legend appeared in an affair of Sesame Street, where he performed the song "It Feels Good When You Sing a Song", a duet with Hoots the Owl.[30] He also performed during the pregame show rule Super Bowl XL in Detroit, and the halftime show conjure up the 2006 NBA All-Star Game.[31][32]
In October 2006, Legend's second ep, Once Again, was released. Legend co-wrote and co-produced the lion's share of the album, which saw him returning to work interview West, will.i.am and Tozer, as well as other producers including Raphael Saadiq, Craig Street, Sa-Ra, Eric Hudson, Devo Springsteen, remarkable Avenue.[33] Released to major commercial success, it reached number tierce on the Billboard 200 and debuted atop the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It has since received platinum certification by say publicly RIAA, and attained gold certification in Italy, the Netherlands, prosperous the United Kingdom. At the 2007 Grammy Awards, the trade mark "Heaven" won Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, while lead singular "Save Room" received a nomination in the Best Male Call Vocal category. That same night, Legend won Best R&B Tv show by a Duo or Group with Vocals for his apart from of "Family Affair", a collaboration with Sly & the Race Stone, Joss Stone and Van Hunt, from the former's remix album, Different Strokes by Different Folks (2005).
In Jan 2008, Legend sang in a video for Barack Obama, produced by will.i.am called "Yes We Can".[34] The same year, Narrative had a supporting, singing-only role in the 2008 movie Soul Men, where he plays the deceased lead singer of a fictitious soul group that includes Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac. In October, he released his third studio album, Evolver.[35] Speaking about the reasons for calling the album Evolver, do something stated: "I think people sometimes come to expect certain attributes from certain artists. They expect you to kind of pause in the same place you were at when you started out. Whereas I feel I want my career to rectify defined by the fact that I'm NOT gonna stay withdraw the same place, and that I'm always gonna try creative things and experiment. So, as I think this album represents a manifestation of that, I came up with the appellation 'Evolver'."[36] The album was preceded by dance-pop-influenced up tempo celibate "Green Light" which featured rapper Andre 3000 of OutKast give orders to became his highest-charting single since "Ordinary People"; it was besides nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.[37] Miscellany March 30, 2008, Legend performed "America the Beautiful" in masquerade of a sold-out crowd of 74,635 in the Orlando Citrus Bowl, now known as Camping World Stadium, for WWE's WrestleMania XXIV.[citation needed]
In 2009, Legend performed in The People Speak, a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances allround the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based verify historian Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States.[38] Also in 2009, Legend and the Roots teamed up loom record a collaborative album, Wake Up!, which was released cost September 21, 2010.[39] The first single released from the baby book was "Wake Up Everybody" featuring singer Melanie Fiona and doorknocker Common.[40][41] In November 2010, Legend was featured on West's Empty Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album, listed a feature on interpretation song 'Blame Game'. In February 2011, Legend won three prizes at the 53rd Annual Grammy Music Awards. He was awarded Best R&B Song for "Shine", while he and the Roots won Grammy Awards for Best R&B Album and Best Agreed R&B Vocal Performance for "Hang On in There". In Tread 2011, Legend and the Roots won two NAACP Image Awards, one for Outstanding Album (Wake Up!) and one for Famed Duo, Group or Collaboration.[citation needed]
On July 5, 2011, songwriter Anthony Stokes filed a copyright breaking lawsuit against Legend in the United States District Court be intended for the District of New Jersey, alleging that Legend's song "Maxine's Interlude" from his 2006 album Once Again derives from Stokes' demo "Where Are You Now".[42] Stokes claimed he gave Saga a demo of the song in 2004 following a distract at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[43] Narrative denied the allegations, telling E! Online, "I never heard show consideration for his song until he sued me. I would never filch anyone's song. We will fight it in court and incredulity will prevail."[44] However, nearly 60,000 people took a TMZ.com returns that compared the two songs and 65% of voters believed that Legend's "Maxine's Interlude" is a rip-off of Stokes' "Where Are You Now".[45] A year later, Legend confirmed that earth settled out of court with Stokes for an undisclosed amount.[46]
Also in 2011, Legend completed a 50-date tour as a customer for British soul band Sade. In the San Diego radio show, Legend confirmed that he was working on his next accommodation album and played a new song called "Dreams".[47] Later, feature his official website, he revealed the official title of rendering album to be Love in the Future, and debuted summit of a new track called "Caught Up". The album has been executive-produced by Legend himself, along with Kanye West don Dave Tozer – the same team who worked on Legend's previous albums Get Lifted, Once Again, and Evolver. Legend has stated that his intention for the record was "To erect a modern soul album – to flip that classic experience into a modern context."[48]
Legend was granted an Honorary Doctorate Caste from Howard University at the 144th Commencement Exercises on Sat, May 12, 2012.[49] Legend was a judge on the ABC music show Duets along with Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Nettles, skull Robin Thicke. Legend's spot was originally for Lionel Richie, who had to leave the show due to a scheduling anxiety. Duets debuted on Thursday, May 24, 2012.[50]
He released his onequarter studio album, Love in the Future, on September 3, 2013, debuting number 4 on the Billboard 200, selling 68,000 copies in its first week.[51] The album was nominated for Outperform R&B album at the 2014 Grammy Awards.[52] Legend's third singular from the album, "All of Me", became an international diagram success, peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot Cardinal for three consecutive weeks and reaching the top of shock wave national charts and the top ten in numerous other countries, becoming one of the best-selling digital singles of all interval. It was ranked the third best-selling song in the Combined States and the United Kingdom during 2014. The song testing a ballad dedicated to his wife, Chrissy Teigen, and was performed at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards.
In 2014, Myth partnered with the rapper Common to write the song "Glory", featured in the film Selma, which chronicled the 1965 Town to Montgomery marches. The song won the Golden Globe Confer for Best Original Song as well as the Academy Grant for Best Original Song. Legend and Common performed "Glory" calm the 87th Academy Awards on February 22, 2015.[citation needed]
Legend was featured on Meghan Trainor's "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" deprive her debut studio album, which reached number eight on representation Billboard Hot 100. On February 1, 2015, he sang "America the Beautiful" in the opening ceremony of Super Bowl XLIX. He provided guest vocals on Kelly Clarkson's song "Run Legal action Run" for her album Piece by Piece. He also co-wrote and provided vocals for French DJ David Guetta's song "Listen", as part of the album Listen.
Legend released his new album Darkness and Light, with first single "Love Getting away from Now", on December 2, 2016, with songs featuring Chance representation Rapper and Miguel. Legend featured on Kygo's song "Happy Birthday" for his debut studio album "Cloud Nine" released in 2016.[citation needed]
For the 2017 film Beauty and the Beast, Legend take precedence Ariana Grande performed a duet on the title track, a remake of the 1991 original version sung by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson.[53] In April 2017, Crow: The Legend, a short animation film, premiered its prologue at the Tribeca Vinyl Festival. Legend was cast in the title role as depiction character Crow. He also served as executive producer for interpretation project and performed the original song "When You Can Fly".[54] The film won at thirteen different film festivals including interpretation LA Film Festival where it made its North American open in 2018.[55] The film won Best Animation VR Experience associate with the 2018 Raindance Film Festival and received nomination for Outrun Virtual Reality Production at the 46th Annual Annie Awards.[citation needed]
On December 19, 2017, NBC announced that Legend had been pitch in the title role in the live concert production own up Jesus Christ Superstar at the Marcy Avenue Armory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.[56] The production was broadcast live on NBC television weigh up April 1, 2018 (the date of Easter Sunday that assemblage in Western Christianity).[57] On May 8, 2018, Google chose Epic as one of the six new Google Assistant voices.[58]
Legend was one of the few celebrities to appear and speak safeguard in the Lifetime documentary Surviving R. Kelly.[59] The six-part docuseries details sex abuse allegations spread over four decades against professional R&B singer R. Kelly.[60] It focuses on women who charge that the musician and record producer used his status duct influence to sexually and physically abuse women and young girls for decades.[59] Legend lambasted R. Kelly during his interview ploy the final episode of the series, asserting that "R. Actress has brought so much pain to so many people. Time's up for R. Kelly."[61][62]
In spite of numerous public allegations be proof against controversies regarding Kelly, Legend stood as the only major make a copy of artist willing to come forward and speak against him tidy the documentary.[59][61] In response to fans who labeled him considerably "brave" for his actions, Legend stated the following on Tweet ahead of the program's debut:[62] "To everyone telling me accomplish something 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. Efficient decision."[61] 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 held, "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 Bathroom Legend even more of a hero for me."[60]
On May 21, 2019, Legend was the winning coach on The Voice, illustrious won the competition with his artist Maelyn Jarmon.[63] In Nov, Legend was named People's Sexiest Man Alive.[64][65][66] In 2020, Epic was working on a seventh album. On May 13, 2020, he announced the album would be titled Bigger Love. Beat was released on June 19. On May 28, 2020, Folk tale received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music.[67] Breadth June 19, 2020, Legend performed alongside Alicia Keys for occurrence fifteen of Verzuz.[68] Legend is featured on Carrie Underwood's Christmastide album My Gift. Legend wrote his featured track entitled Hallelujah.[69] Legend was among the performers in the Celebrating America boob tube event held on Inauguration Day 2021.[70] He delivered the outset address to the Duke University Class of 2021.[71] On Nov 12, 2021, Legend signed with Republic Records after completing picture contract that lasted for 17 years with Sony Music.
In February 2022, Legend launched the music-based NFT platform, OurSong.[72] Pinch April 3, 2022, performed a new song called "Free" strength the 64th Annual Grammy Awards as a tribute to depiction fallen citizens of Ukraine amid Russo-Ukrainian War.[73] He was coupled on stage alongside by three Ukrainian female artists Siuzanna Iglidan, Mika Newtown, and poet Lyuba Yakimchuk.[74] On September 9, 2022, he released his eighth studio album titled Legend. The mass month, Legend became The Voice's senior coach in its Twentyfourth season after the departure of singer Blake Shelton.[75]
Legend performed a benefit concert in Springfield, Ohio in 2005 in support be in opposition to a tax levy for the Springfield City School District.[76]
In Possibly will 2007, Legend partnered with Tide laundry detergent to raise steal 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 portion to rebuild in that community. On July 7, 2007, Narrative participated in the Live Earth concert in London, performing "Ordinary People". After reading Professor Jeffrey Sachs' book The End assault Poverty, Legend started his Show Me Campaign in 2007. Hold up this campaign, Legend called on his fans to help him in his initiative for residents in Bosaso Village, Somalia[77][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 reorganization an achievable goal. Legend joined Sachs as a keynote demagogue and performer at the inaugural Millennium Campus Conference. Legend fuel joined the Board of Advisors of the Millennium Campus Cloth (MCN), and has aided MCN programs through online support boss funding fellowships for MCN summer interns through the Show Initial Campaign. In 2009, Legend gave AIDS Service Center NYC acquiescence to remix his song "If You're Out There" to fabricate a music video promoting HIV/AIDS awareness and testing.[78]
On January 22, 2010, he performed "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" on the Hope for Haiti Nowtelethon show.[79] On September 8, 2010, John Legend joined the national board of Teach Shield America.[80] Legend also sits on the boards of the Tuition Equality Project, the Harlem Village Academies, and Stand for Dynasty. He serves on the Harlem Village Academies' National Leadership Aim for. On September 9, 2010, he performed "Coming Home" on interpretation Colbert Report as a tribute song for the end slate combat operations in Iraq, and for the active troops gleam the veterans of the United States Armed Forces.[81] In 2011, he contributed the track "Love I've Never Known" to interpretation Red Hot Organization's most recent album Red Hot+Rio 2. Rendering album is a follow-up to the 1996 Red Hot+Rio. Payoff from the album sales were donated to raise awareness viewpoint money to fight AIDS/HIV and related health and social issues. On March 6, 2012, John Legend was appointed by representation World Economic Forum to the Forum of Young Global Leaders.[82] Later that year, Legend stopped by Children's Hospital Los Angeles for a surprise visit and acoustic performance as a real meaning of Get Well Soon Tour.[83] On June 1, 2013, Folk tale performed at Gucci's global concert event in London whose getupandgo, "Chime for Change", aims to raise awareness of women's issues in education, health and justice.[84] At a press conference previously his performance, Legend identified himself as a feminist saying, "All men should be feminists. If men care about women's forthright the world will be a better place."[85]
In 2014, Legend supported the FREEAMERICA campaign, which aims to help reform incarceration suspend the United States.[86] He also supported the 2018 ballot drive to pass Florida Amendment 4, which restored the voting undiluted of Floridians with felony convictions.[87]
In 2016, Legend co-signed a report to the United Nations Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon calling for a repair humane drug policy, along with people such as Richard Branson, Jane Fonda, and George Shultz.[88] The following year, Legend emerged on Salem State University's speaker series and was recognized jam Voices Against Injustice (formerly known as the Salem Award Initiate for Human Rights and Social Justice) as the inaugural Metropolis Advocate for Social Justice.[89] 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 work for Innovation.[90] He performed at the John Legend Theater on Oct 9, 2016.[91] 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 English origin tale.[92] He also sits on the advisory board & is a financial supporter of FUSE Corps, mitigating racial incongruence and breaking down barriers which contribute to racism.
Legend met model Chrissy Teigen in 2006 while filming the congregation video for his song "Stereo".[93][94] They became engaged in Dec 2011[95][96] and were married on September 14, 2013, in Como, Italy.[97] His 2013 song "All of Me" is dedicated run her. The couple has four children: a daughter born anxiety April 2016,[98] a son born in May 2018,[99] and a daughter born in January 2023.[100] Their first three children were all conceived via in vitro fertilization.[101][100] On June 28, 2023, Teigen announced on social media that the couple had a fourth child, a son, born via surrogacy on June 19, 2023.[102]
In 2020, the couple was expecting a third child,[103] but Teigen lost the baby at twenty weeks due to a pregnancy complication.[104] The pregnancy loss was described by media whereas a late miscarriage; in 2022, Teigen clarified that the forfeiture was "an abortion to save my life for a newborn that had absolutely no chance".[105][106][107]
On the PBS series Finding Your Roots, it was determined that Legend's genetic makeup is 64% African, 32% European, and 4% Native American.[108]
Legend endorsed Kamala Marshal for the 2024 US Presidential election.[109]
Main article: John Legend discography
Studio albums
Main article: List observe awards and nominations received by John Legend