John Legend

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Born:
December 28, 1978, he's 33 and American.
Birthname:
John Stephens.
Snapshot:
An Artist with 19 releases, and credited 23 times on others' music. 17 collaborations.

Biography

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How conveniently glamorous for a musician to have the surname "Legend" - but not really, for soul-singing star John's real surname is the disappointingly dull "Stephens". Still, with two excellent albums under his belt and over four million units sold worldwide, his fans would insist he can live up to that ambitious moniker.

After leaving University, John Stephens performed in nightclubs and gave away home-recorded LPs at gigs in New York and Philadelphia. After playing piano on Lauryn Hill's hugely successful The Miseducation Of... album in 1998, he gradually became more involved in session work and made guest appearances with the Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys and Jay-Z. His big break came when he was introduced to his roommate's cousin - a budding hip-hop producer called Kanye West. Now re-christened "John Legend", he collaborated on Kanye's international breakthrough debut album The College Dropout, before signing to Kanye's label, modestly named G.O.O.D. Music.

Debut solo album Get Lifted (2004) was well-received by reviewers and earned him three Grammys in 2006 - Best New Artist, Best R&B Album and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for the single "Ordinary People". The follow-up, 2006's Once Again, went Top 10 across the world and was again warmly reviewed by the press, adding another two Grammys to Legend's trophy haul.

In addition to his solo work, he has continued to collaborate with other prominent soul and hip-hop artists by singing, writing or playing the piano. In addition to the aforementioned artists, he has also worked with Common, Janet Jackson and Talib Kweli, among others.

Music

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Genres

Contemporary R&B, Soul, Blues, Experimental, Pop, Rock, Traditional R&B. Vote on Genres

Discography

41 releases – 19 under his own name and 23 credits on others' music Edit
Collaborations, Groups and Family
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In the News

( 2 stories between 25th April 2009 and 8th August 2010 )

John Legend Needs Another Grammy

Aug, 8 2010

While Sir Georg Solti, Quincy Jones and Alison Krauss might have trouble trying to find space in their homes for all their Grammy awards -- they've earned 31, 27 and 27 each respectively -- they've probably learned not to allow young children too much time with them. John Legend, who has "only" won six, has just learned that lesson. "Casualty of the nephews staying with me," he tweeted alongside a photo of a badly damaged Grammy; Best R&B Album 2005 for Get Lifted, to be exact. "I hope they send replacement Grammys!" he added. Luckily, they do. "Don’t worry," the Grammys official page tweeted back, "we can send a replacement Grammy Award to you!". Legend's naughty nephew should be relieved he's got such an understanding uncle. "Funny how many of y'all told me to beat his ass, haha" he said. "It was truly an accident. I'm just gonna have to nephew-proof my apt. a little better."

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John Legend

Apr, 25 2009

Cult Baltimore artist Dan Deacon recently made a call out to fans attending his tour to bring vegetable oil to the show so he could power his specially adapted tour bus. But according to Billboard, no musician has done more to promote environmental causes than John Legend, who won their Green 10 countdown for performing at green events, giving talks on the subject, and campaigning to improve agricultural conditions for villages in Tanzania. Now Legend has announced plans to ensure his upcoming 50-date national tour causes no harm to the environment. The tour's carbon footprint has been calculated by an environmental agency, and offset with a donation towards renewable energy projects. There will be recycled merchandise, venues will be consulted to ensure they're following eco-friendly procedures, and fans will be encouraged to share rides via an online carpooling service. It's all in support of third album Evolver, which has only sold around a third of both his previous albums. Could that be part of a deliberate effort by Legend to reduce the number of plastic discs manufactured in his name? Now that's dedication!

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