John Legend (born John Stephens, 28 December 1978, Columbus, Ohio) is an
American R&B singer, songwriter, and pianist. His debut studio album, the platinum-selling Get Lifted, was released
in late 2004, and features collaborations with rap artist and producer Kanye West as well as rapper Snoop Dogg. Get Lifted
produced two singles: "Used to Love U"
(US top 100, UK top 30) and "Ordinary People" (US
and UK top 30). Legend has won five Grammy Awards. Prior to the release of his debut album,
Legend's career gained momentum through a series of successful collaborations with multiple established artists. Notably, Legend
sang the hooks for hits by Slum Village ("Selfish", also featuring Kanye West), Jay-Z ("Encore"), and
Dilated Peoples ("This Way"); played piano on Lauryn Hill's "Everything is Everything"; and
sang background vocals on Alicia Keys' "You Don't Know My Name" and Fort Minor's "High Road."
Biography
Legend's career began at the age of 3, when his grandmother began teaching him to play gospel
piano. By the time he was 7 years old, Legend was singing with the church choir and taking lessons in classical music. Legend
attended Springfield North High School, graduating as
Salutatorian at 16. He was also prom king and president of the student council.
Legend attended the University of Pennsylvania (Class of 1999), where he
studied English with an emphasis on African American literature and culture. While at Penn, he helmed Counterparts, a coed jazz and pop
a cappella group as President (1997-1998) and Musical Director (1998-1999). Legend's
lead vocals on the group's recording of Joan Osbourne's "One of Us" propelled the song to
critical acclaim[1], landing it a coveted spot on the track
list of the 1998 Best of Collegiate A Cappella compilation CD.
Oddly enough, his first job after graduating from Penn was not in the music business -- Legend began working for the
Boston Consulting Group in Boston and then New
York City. Before becoming a mainstream artist, Legend hit the nightclub circuit in New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., performing
as an independent artist and distributing live LPs such as John Stephens and Live at SOB's.
It was John Legend's roommate and former Penn classmate, Devon Harris, professionally known as Devo Springsteen, who introduced Legend to his cousin and then up-and-coming hip hop artist
Kanye West. Since that meeting, Legend and West have worked closely together, with West
signing Legend as the first artist to join his new label, G.O.O.D. Music. Legend sang many of
the melodic hooks on West’s demo, which would eventually become the Grammy Award winning
album The College Dropout; in turn, West provided rhythm tracks for Legend’s
demo, which would evolve into Get Lifted. Recently, Legend contributed to fellow
G.O.O.D artist Common's LP, Be, and
provided vocals for "High Road" on the album The Rising Tied by Fort Minor (Mike Shinoda).
Recent endeavors
Legend performed during the pregame show of Super Bowl XL in Detroit.[2] He also performed during the halftime show at the
2006 NBA All-Star Game,[3] and he performed "God Bless America" during the 7th inning stretch at the 2006 Major League Baseball
All Star Game in Pittsburgh, PA.[4] also he performed at
the Grammy Awards.
He is also featured in the Black Eyed Peas song, "Like
That". The song "Ordinary People" was originally meant to be for a Black
Eyed Peas project, but Legend decided to keep it for himself and recorded the song after he had been signed to Columbia
Records.
Legend appears on the soundtrack to the film The Second Chance with the
song, "Refuge".
The first single from his second album, Once Again, was
"Save Room". The album was released October 24,
2006, and boasts production from Kanye West, Raphael
Saadiq, and will.i.am.
In an interview with MTV.com, Legend said the new album would contain his favorite song that he has written to date, entitled
"Again." He said he actually came up with the idea for the song and wrote some of it while sitting on a subway. He stated that
the song was also the inspiration for the album's title.[citation needed]
The video for his latest single, "P.D.A. (We Just Don't Care)", features
Alexandre Rodrigues and Alice Braga from the
critically acclaimed film, City of God.
Legend recently launched the Show Me Campaign[5], through which his fans are encouraged to donate funds toward improving the
living situations and prospects of the poor in Ghana.
John Legend is also rumored to be working on Michael Jackson's next album.
Legend appears in a recent commercial for a Lexus SUV, in which Legend is shown listening to Nina Simone's
"Backlash Blues" (recorded live in Paris, 1968, on The Great Show
LP) and describing his experience with the music. He is also notable for performing
closing music in many of Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs'
keynote presentations.
On 7 July 2007, Legend participated in the
Live Earth concert in London, performing "Ordinary People". On
July 8, 2007, he participated in the Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, with India.Arie. On July
11, 2007, he participated in the Jazz Open Festival in
Stuttgart, Germany, with Amy
Winehouse.
On July 26, 2007, he hosted a John Legend Network Members Only Party and Concert
called "The Kings & Queens Bash" at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia,
PA. There were 500 participants in attendance and he introduced the acts from his new label, Homeschool
Records to his John Legend Network
fans: Estelle, Vaughn Anthony, Lucy Woodward and The James Gang. Nikki Jean, a local Philadelphia artist also performed. A highlight was
John Legend's rendition of the hit song Ordinary People which he performed with jazz harmonicist Frédéric Yonnet. The John Legend
Network facilated a contest where a fan could win a chance to sing "King & Queen" with John Legend (the duet that John Legend
recorded with Mary J. Blige) and the winner was Dorothy Saintus of Crest Hill, Illinois,
where she and John Legend performed the duet live in front of everyone there.
Discography
Studio albums
Live albums
Singles
Guest appearances
Other appearances
- 2003: I'm Good - Kanye West ("Intro" featuring John
Legend)
- 2003: "Got Nowhere" (Remix) - Kanye West
- 2003: "Last Night" featuring John Legend - Kanye West
- 2003: Get Well Soon - Kanye West ("Home" featuring John
Legend - uncredited)
- 2004: "Used to Love U" (Remix) featuring Naledge - John
Legend
- 2006: "Do What I Gotta Do" - John Legend [The Good Life Mixtape]
- 2006: "Back In The Day" - The Last Poets featuring John Legend [The Good Life Mixtape]
- 2006: "So High (Cloud 9 Remix)" - John Legend featuring Lauryn Hill [The Good Life
Mixtape]
- 2006: "All Falls Down (Live)" - Kanye West featuring John Legend [The Good Life Mixtape]
Awards/nominations
- BET Awards
- 2007, Best Male R&B Artist (Nominated)
- 2005, Best New Artist: (Winner)
- 2005, Best Male R&B Artist: (Nominated)
- 2005, Video of the Year: Ordinary People (Nominated)
- Grammy Awards
- 2007, Best Male R&B Vocal Performance: Heaven (Winner)
- 2007, Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group: Family
Affair (Winner)
- 2007, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance: Save Room (Nominated)
- 2006, Best New Artist: (Winner)
- 2006, Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group: So High (Nominated)
- 2006, Best R&B Album: Get Lifted (Winner)
- 2006, Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance: Stay With You
(Nominated)
- 2006, Best R&B Male Vocal Performance: Ordinary People
(Winner)
- 2006, Best R&B Song: Ordinary People (Nominated)
- 2006, Song of the Year: Ordinary People (Nominated)
- 2006, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration: They Say (Nominated)
- MOBO Award
- 2005, Best Video: "Ordinary People" (Nominated)
- 2005, Best R&B Act: (Winner)
- 2005, Best Album: Get Lifted (Nominated)
- MTV Video Music Awards
- 2005, Best Male Video: "Ordinary People" (Nominated)
- 2005, Best New Artist: "Ordinary People" (Nominated)
- 2005, Best R&B Video: "Ordinary People" (Nominated)
- Vibe Awards
- 2005, Best R&B Song: "Ordinary People" (Nominated)
- 2005, Album of the Year: Get Lifted (Nominated)
- 2005, Artist of the Year: (Nominated)
- 2005, R&B Voice of the Year: (Nominated)
Philanthropy
After reading Professor Jeffrey Sachs' book, "The
End of Poverty", John Legend was inspired to visit Ghana to learn more about making life
better for others. This is when he started The Show Me Campaign in 2007. With this
campaign, Legend is calling on his fans to help him in his initiative for those who reside in Bossaso Village and few other
non-profit organizations that the campaign partners with.
In 2007, John Legend became the spokesman for GQ Magazine's THE GENTLEMEN'S FUND™, an
initiative to raise support and awareness for five cornerstones essential to men: opportunity, health, education, environment,
and justice.
In May 2007, John Legend partnered with Tide to raise awareness about the need of families in
St. Bernard's Parish- one of the most devastated areas hit by Hurricane Katrina. He spent a day folding laundry at The Tide Clean Start mobile laundromat and visted
homes that Tide is helping to rebuild in that community.
References
- ^ [1]
- ^ For The
Record: Quick News On R. Kelly, Jamie Foxx, Green Day, Hilary Duff, Diddy, Tommy Lee & More - MTV News
- ^ John Legend and Carrie Underwood Set for All-Star Halftime Show - NBA
- ^ Musical performers announced for Major League Baseball All-Star Week - Major League
Baseball
- ^ http://www.showmecampaign.org/
- ^ John Legend's Chart History. Retrieved on February 22,
2007.
- ^ John Legend's Chart History. Retrieved on February 22,
2007.
- ^ UK
Chart Runs. Retrieved on February 22, 2007.
- ^ Source
for "So High" UK Chart position. Retrieved 7 July, 2007
- ^ http://www.hmv.co.uk/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=280;-1;-1;-1&sku=602764 "P.D.A. (We Just Don't Care)"
single confirmation.
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
