John Legend

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John Legend

Background information
Birth name John Stephens
Born December 28, 1978 (age 28)
Origin Springfield, Ohio,
United States
Genre(s) R&B, soul
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, pianist
Instrument(s) Piano
Years active 2000–present
Label(s) Sony Urban, GOOD Music
Website JohnLegend.com

John Legend (born John Stephens on December 28, 1978 in Springfield, Ohio) is a five-time Grammy Award winning R&B singer, songwriter, and pianist. His debut studio album, the platinum selling Get Lifted, was released in late 2004. It features collaborations with rapper and producer Kanye West as well as rapper Snoop Dogg and the singles "Used To Love U" (US top 100, UK top 30) and "Ordinary People" (US and UK top 30). He also collaborated with Slum Village on the song "Selfish" (US top 100), also featuring Kanye West. Legend also played the piano on Lauryn Hill's "Everything is Everything" and sang background vocals on Jay-Z's "Encore," Alicia Keys' "You Don't Know My Name," and Fort Minor's "High Road." He has a brother, Vaughn Anthony, who is also a singer.

Contents

[edit] Biography

When Legend was 4, he started playing gospel and classical piano that his grandmother had taught him. And at the age of 5 or 6, he sang with the church choir. Legend attended Springfield North High School, graduating as Salutatorian at 16. He was also prom king and president of the student council.

He attended the University of Pennsylvania. There, he directed Counterparts, a coed a cappella group. At Penn, Legend majored in English, with an emphasis on African American literature and culture.

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 often hit the nightclub circuit in New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. performing as an independent artist and distributing live LPs such as Live at SOB's.

It was John Legend's roommate and former classmate at Penn, Devon Harris, now 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. Legend is also signed to West's 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 The College Dropout; and 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 also provided vocals for the track "High Road" on the album The Rising Tied by Fort Minor (Mike Shinoda)..

Legend performed during the pregame show of Super Bowl XL in Detroit.[1] He also performed during the halftime show at the 2006 NBA All-Star Game,[2] and he performed "God Bless America" during the 7th inning stretch at the 2006 Major League Baseball All Star Game in Pittsburgh, PA.[3] also he preformed 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 also appears on the soundtrack to the film The Second Chance, starring contemporary Christian music superstar Michael W. Smith, with the song "Refuge". Other appearances on the soundtrack include multiple songs by Smith himself.

The first single from his sophomore album, Once Again, is "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.

The video for his latest single "P.D.A. (We Just Don't Care)" features Alexandre Rodrigues and Alice Braga from critically acclaimed film, City of God.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio albums

Album Cover Album Information
Get Lifted
Once Again

[edit] Live albums

[edit] Singles

Year Title Chart Positions Album
US 100[4] US R&B/Hip-Hop[5] UK Singles[6]
2004 Used to Love U 74 32 29 Get Lifted
2005 Ordinary People 24 4 27 Get Lifted
2005 Number One (featuring Kanye West) - 86 62 Get Lifted
2005 So High - 53 - Get Lifted
2006 Save Room 61 53 - Once Again
2006 Heaven - 26 - Once Again
2007 P.D.A. (We Just Don't Care) [7] - - - Once Again

[edit] Guest appearances

Year Song Artist Album
2003 Lucifer Jay-Z The Black Album
2003 Encore 2 Jay-Z The Black Album
2003 Summer Kiss Gerald Veasley Velvet
2004 Hey Girl Estelle The 18th Day
2004 Freedom Estelle The 18th Day
2004 This Way Dilated Peoples Neighborhood Watch
2004 U Know White Boy No Gray Area
2004 So Soulful Consequence Take 'Em To The Cleaners
2004 Getting Out The Game Consequence Take 'Em To The Cleaners
2004 Selfish Slum Village Detroit Deli
2004 Around My Way Talib Kweli The Beautiful Struggle
2005 It's Alright Kanye West The College Dropout Bonus CD
2005 Faithful Common Be
2005 They Say Common Be
2005 Grown Man Pt. 2" Young Gunz Brothers From Another
2005 I've Been Waiting On You Miri Ben-Ari The Hip-Hop Violinist
2005 Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing John Legend Hitch Soundtrack
2005 Like That Black Eyed Peas Like That Single
2005 Love Won't Let Me Wait Luther Vandross So Amazing
2005 Touch Ray Charles Genius & Friends
2005 Hello, It's Me John Legend iTunes Exclusive
2005 Please Don't Stop Richard Bona Tiki
2005 High Road Fort Minor The Rising Tied
2006 Please Baby Don't Sergio Mendes Timeless
2006 Sing You Sinners Tony Bennett Duets: An American Classic
2006 Do U Wanna Ride Jay-Z Kingdom Come
2007 Feel This Way Consequence Don't Quit Your Day Job
2007 Loneliness Keyshia Cole Just Like You
2007 Where We Were Wrong Keyshia Cole Just Like You
2007 "Ghetto Rich" "Rich Boy" "Rich Boy"

[edit] Other appearances

[edit] Appearances on mixtapes

  • 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]

[edit] Awards/Nominations

  • BET Awards
    • 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 Me (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)

[edit] References

  1. ^ For The Record: Quick News On R. Kelly, Jamie Foxx, Green Day, Hilary Duff, Diddy, Tommy Lee & More - MTV News
  2. ^ John Legend and Carrie Underwood Set for All-Star Halftime Show - NBA
  3. ^ Musical performers announced for Major League Baseball All-Star Week - Major League Baseball
  4. ^ John Legend's Chart History. Retrieved on February 22, 2007.
  5. ^ John Legend's Chart History. Retrieved on February 22, 2007.
  6. ^ UK Chart Runs. Retrieved on February 22, 2007.
  7. ^ 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.

[edit] External links

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