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| John Legend From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search John Legend Background information Birth name John Stephens Born December 28, 1978 Origin Springfield, Ohio, United States Genre(s) R&B, soul Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, pianist Instrument(s) Piano Years active 2004–present Label(s) Sony Urban, GOOD Music Website JohnLegend.com John Legend (born John Stephens on December 28, 1978 in Springfield, Ohio) is a Grammy winning American R&B singer, songwriter, and pianist. His debut 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." Contents [hide] 1 Biography 2 Discography 2.1 Album 2.2 Singles 2.3 Guest appearances 2.4 Other Appearances 2.5 Appearances on Mixtapes 3 Grammy Award history 4 References 5 External links [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, DC 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, 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 frequently cites gospel, R&B, and/or hip hop music as his main musical influences. 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] 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 Second Chance (starring Michael W. Smith) with the song "Refuge". Other appearances on the soundtrack include multiple songs by Michael W. Smith himself. The first single from his sophomore album, Once Again, is "Save Room". The album is due in stores October 24th and boasts production from Kanye West, Raphael Saadiq, and will.i.am. In an interview with MTV.com, Legend said that the 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. [edit] Discography [edit] Album 2002: Live At SOB's 2003: Solo Sessions Vol. 1: Live At The Knitting Factory 2004: Get Lifted (#4 US, #12 UK) Once Again (not yet released) [edit] Singles Year Title Chart Positions Album US Hot 100 US R&B/Hip-Hop UK Singles 2004 "Used to Love U" #74 - #29 Get Lifted 2005 "Ordinary People" #24 - #27 Get Lifted 2005 "Number 1" - - #62 Get Lifted 2005 "So High" - #53 #160 Get Lifted 2006 "Save Room" TBR TBR TBR Once Again [edit] Guest appearances 2003: The Black Album - Jay-Z ("Encore 2", "Lucifer") (vocals and pianist) 2004: Neighborhood Watch - Dilated Peoples ("This Way" featuring Kanye West) (vocalist, pianist, and also appears in music video) 2004: No Gray Area - White Boy ("U Know" featuring Kanye West, Belo and John Legend) 2004: Take 'Em To The Cleaners mixtape - Consequence ("So Soulful" featuring Kanye West, John Legend and Khayree, "Getting Out The Game" featuring Kanye West and John Legend) 2004: Detroit Deli - Slum Village ("Selfish" featuring Kanye West and John Legend (also appears in music video) 2005: The College Dropout: Video Anthology Bonus CD - Kanye West ("It's Alright" featuring Mase and John Legend) 2005: Be - Common ("Faithful" featuring John Legend and Bilal, "They Say" featuring Kanye West and John Legend) 2005: Brothers from Another Mother - Young Gunz ("Grown Man pt. 2" featuring Kanye West and John Legend) 2005: The Hip-Hop Violinist - Miri Ben-Ari ("I've Been Waiting On You" featuring Consequence and John Legend) 2005: John Legend - "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing" (from the Hitch Soundtrack} 2005: B side of "Pump It" - Black Eyed Peas - ("Like That" featuring Q-Tip, Cee-Lo, Talib Kweli and John Legend) 2005: So Amazing - Luther Vandross tribute album ("Love Won't Let Me Wait") 2005: Genius & Friends - Ray Charles tribute album ("Touch") 2005: The Rising Tied - Fort Minor ("High Road" featuring John Legend) 2005: "Again" (off the DVD Live at the House of Blues) 2006: John Legend - Hello, It's Me (iTunes exclusive track) 2006: Timeless - Sergio Mendes ("Please Baby Don't") [edit] Other Appearances 1998: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Lauryn Hill ("Everything is Everything") (pianist) 2003: Elephunk - Black Eyed Peas ("The Boogie That Be") (as a lead vocalist and co-writer) 2003: "You Don't Know My Name" - Alicia Keys (vocals) 2004: "If I Ain't Got You" (Kanye West Remix) - Alicia Keys (as a co-writer, pianist and vocalist) 2004: "I Want You - Janet Jackson (as a co-writer and pianist) 2004: The College Dropout - Kanye West ("Graduation", "Jesus Walks", "Never Let Me Down" featuring Jay-Z and J Ivy, "Slow Jamz", "Family Business") (as a pianist and a video appearance in "Slow Jamz") 2004: The Beautiful Struggle - Talib Kweli ("I Try" featuring Mary J. Blige) (as a co-writer, pianist and vocalist) 2004: "Around My Way" - Talib Kweli (lead vocalist and pianist) 2004: "Overnight Celebrity" - Twista (pianist) 2005: Late Registration - Kanye West ("Hey Mama", "Celebration") 2006: DJ Khaled - Listenn - Kanye West ("Grammy Family") [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 [edit] Grammy Award history Career Stats Career Wins: 3[4] Career Nominations: 8[4] Category Genre Song/Album Year Result Best R&B Album R&B Get Lifted 2006 Won Best R&B Male Vocal Performance R&B "Ordinary People" 2006 Won Best R&B Song R&B "Ordinary People" 2006 Nominated Best Traditional R&B Performance R&B "Stay With You" 2006 Nominated Song of the Year General "Ordinary People" 2006 Nominated Best New Artist General N/A 2006 Won Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group R&B "So High" 2006 Nominated Best Rap/Sung Collaboration Rap "They Say" 2006 Nominated [edit] References ^ 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 ^ a b Mariah And Kanye Win, But In The End U2 — And Curveballs — Rule Grammy Night - MTV News [edit] External links John Legend - Official Site John Legend - Official UK Site John The Legend- Fansite John Legend Online- Fansite Good Music Net -- Website dedicated to John's Label John Legend Videos on AOL Music Vibe.com review Legend performs "Jesus Walks" with Kanye West and Rhymefest Legend performs "Ordinary People" during the 2006 Grammys telecast Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Legend"
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