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*[[2004]]: [[Dilated Peoples]] - "This Way" (f. [[Kanye West]]) (off the album ''Neighborhood Watch'') (vocalist, pianist, and also appears in music video) |
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Revision as of 08:00, 3 September 2006
Template:Infobox musical artist 2 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."
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.
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. He also performed during the halftime show at the 2006 NBA All-Star Game, and he performed "God Bless America" during the 7th inning stretch at the 2006 Major League Baseball All Star Game in Pittsburgh, PA.
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.
Discography
Album
- 2004: Get Lifted #4 US (Platinum - 1.7 million), #12 UK (2005 release) (WW Sales 2.5 million)
- 2006: Once Again
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 |
Uncle_Joe_March_5_2006.jpg
File:Uncle Joe March 5 2006.jpg
"Featured" On
- 2004: Dilated Peoples - "This Way" (f. Kanye West) (off the album Neighborhood Watch) (vocalist, pianist, and also appears in music video)
- 2004: White Boy - "U Know" (ft. Kanye West, Belo & John Legend) (off the album No Gray Area')
- 2004: Consequence - "So Soulful" (f. Kanye West, John Legend and Khayree) (off the Take 'Em To The Cleaners mixtape)
- 2004: Consequence - "Getting Out The Game" (f. Kanye West and John Legend) (off the Take 'Em To The Cleaners mixtape)
- 2004: Slum Village - "Selfish" (ft. Kanye West & John Legend) (off the album Detroit Deli) (also appears in music video)
- 2005: Kanye West - "It's Alright" (f. Mase and John Legend) (off The College Dropout: Video Anthology Bonus CD)
- 2005: Common - "Faithful" (ft. John Legend & Bilal) (off the album Be)
- 2005: Common - "They Say" (ft. Kanye West & John Legend) (off the album Be)
- 2005: Young Gunz - "Grown Man pt. 2" (ft. Kanye West & John Legend) (off the album Brothers from Another Mother)
- 2005: Miri Ben-Ari - "I've Been Waiting On You" (ft. Consequence & John Legend) (off the album The Hip Hop Violinist)
- 2005: John Legend - "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing" (from the Hitch Soundtrack}
- 2005: Black Eyed Peas - "Like That" (ft. Q-Tip, Cee-Lo, Talib Kweli, & John Legend) (off B side of "Pump It")
- 2005: "Love Won't Let Me Wait" (off the Luther Vandross tribute album So Amazing)
- 2005: "Touch" (off the Ray Charles tribute album Genius and Friends)
- 2005: Fort Minor - "High Road" (ft. John Legend) (off the album The Rising Tied)
- 2005: "Again" (off the DVD Live at the House of Blues)
- 2006: John Legend - Hello, It's Me (iTunes exclusive track)
- 2006: Sergio Mendes - "Please Baby Don't" (off the album Timeless)
Other Appearances
- 1998: Lauryn Hill - "Everything is Everything" (from the album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill) (pianist)
- 2003: Jay-Z- "Encore 2" (from the album The Black Album) (vocals and pianist)
- 2003: Jay-Z- "Lucifer" (from the album The Black Album) (vocals and pianist)
- 2003: Black Eyed Peas - "The Boogie That Be" (off the album Elephunk) (lead vocalist and co-writer)
- 2003: Alicia Keys - "You Don't Know My Name" (vocals)
- 2004: Alicia Keys - "If I Ain't Got You" (Kanye West Remix) (co-writer, pianist and vocalist)
- 2004: Janet Jackson - "I Want You" (co-writer and pianist)
- 2004: Kanye West - "Graduation" (off The College Dropout)
- 2004: Kanye West - "Jesus Walks" (off The College Dropout)
- 2004: Kanye West - "Never Let Me Down" (f. Jay-Z and J Ivy) (off The College Dropout)
- 2004: Kanye West - "Slow Jamz" (off The College Dropout) (pianist and video appearance)
- 2004: Kanye West - "Family Business" (off The College Dropout)
- 2004: Talib Kweli - "I Try" (f. Mary J. Blige) (off the album The Beautiful Struggle) (co-writer, pianist and vocalist)
- 2004: Talib Kweli - "Around My Way" (lead vocalist and pianist)
- 2004: Twista - "Overnight Celebrity" (pianist)
- 2005: Kanye West - "Hey Mama" (off Late Registration)
- 2005: Kanye West - "Celebration" (off Late Registration)
- 2006: Kanye West - "Grammy Family" (off DJ Khaled - Listenn)
Appearances on Unreleased Mixtapes
- 2003: Kanye West - "Intro" (ft. John Legend) (from the "I'm Good" mixtape)
- 2003: Kanye West - "Got Nowhere" (Remix)
- 2003: Kanye West - "Last Night" (ft. John Legend)
- 2003: Kanye West - "Home" (ft. John Legend - uncredited) (off the "Get Well Soon" mixtape)
- 2004: John Legend - "Used to Love U" (Remix ft. Naledge) (off ???)
- 2005: Kanye West - "Name That Tune" (ft. John Legend) (off the "Second Semester" mixtape)
- 2005: Kanye West - "Do What I Gotta Do" (off "The Lost Tapes" mixtape)
Grammy Award history
Career Stats
- Career Wins: 3
- Career Nominations: 8
References
| John Legend's Grammy History | ||||
| 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 |
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. |
External links
- John Legend - Official 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