John Legend facts for kids

John Legend
John Legend at the Citi Presents Evenings with Legends show on January 29, 2014, in New York
Born	John Roger Stephens December 28, 1978 (1978-12-28) Springfield, Ohio, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Pennsylvania
Occupation	Singer songwriter musician actor
Years active	2000–present
Spouse(s)	Chrissy Teigen (m. 2013)
Children	2
Musical career
Genres	R&B soul neo soul pop
Instruments	Vocals piano keyboards
Labels	GOOD (former) Sony Columbia
Associated acts	The Roots Kanye West Common will.i.am DJ Khaled Estelle
Website	johnlegend.com

John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter and actor.

Prior to the release of Legend's debut album, he collaborated with already established artists. At various points in his career, Legend has sung in Magnetic Man's "Getting Nowhere", Kanye West's "Blame Game", on Slum Village's "Selfish", and Dilated Peoples' "This Way". Other collaborative appearances include Jay-Z's "Encore", backing vocals on Alicia Keys' 2003 song "You Don't Know My Name", and Fort Minor's "High Road". Legend played piano on Lauryn Hill's "Everything Is Everything".

For his solo work, he earned a Billboard Hot 100 number-one single with "All of Me" in 2013. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2015 for writing the song "Glory" from the film Selma. He has also won ten Grammy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. In 2007, Legend received the Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2017, Legend received a Tony Award for co-producing Jitney for the Broadway stage. On Easter Sunday in 2018, Legend portrayed Jesus Christ in the NBC adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

Early life

John Legend - PopTech 2010 - Camden, Maine

Legend was born on December 28, 1978, in Springfield, Ohio. He is one of four children of Phyllis Elaine Lloyd, a seamstress, and Ronald Lamar Stephens, a factory worker at International Harvester. Legend was homeschooled by his mother on and off throughout his childhood. At the age of four, he performed with his church choir. He began playing the piano at age seven. At the age of 12, Legend attended Springfield North High School, from which he graduated salutatorian of his class four years later. According to Legend, he was offered admission to Harvard University and scholarships to Georgetown University and Morehouse College. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied English with an emphasis on African-American literature.

While in college, Legend served as president and musical director of a co-ed jazz and pop a cappella group called Counterparts. His lead vocals on the group's recording of Joan Osborne's "One of Us" (written by Eric Bazilian of The Hooters) received critical acclaim, landing the song on the track list of the 1998 Best of Collegiate a Cappella compilation CD. Legend was also a member of the prestigious senior societies Sphinx Senior Society and Onyx Senior Honor Society while an undergraduate at Penn. While in college, Legend was introduced to Lauryn Hill by a friend. Hill hired him to play piano on "Everything Is Everything", a song from her album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

Career beginnings

Shot at the Budweiser Stage on June 17, 2017 in Toronto

During this period, he began to hold a number of shows around Philadelphia, eventually expanding his audience base to New York, Boston, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. He graduated from college in 1999, and thereafter began producing, writing, and recording his own music. He released two albums independently; his self-titled demo (2000) and Live at Jimmy's Uptown (2001), which he sold at his shows. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Legend began working as a management consultant for the Boston Consulting Group. He subsequently began working on his demo and began sending his work to various record labels.

In 2001, Devo Springsteen introduced Legend to then up-and-coming hip-hop artist Kanye West; Legend was hired to sing during the hooks of West's music. After signing to West's label, he chose his stage name from an idea that was given to him by poet J. Ivy, due to what he perceived as an "old-school sound". J. Ivy stated, "I heard your music and it reminds me of that music from the old school. You sound like one of the legends. As a matter of fact, that's what I'm going to call you from now on! I'm going to call you John Legend." After J. Ivy continued to call him by the new name "John Legend," others quickly caught on, including Kanye West. Despite Legend's reluctance to change his stage name, he eventually announced his new artist name as John Legend.

Personal life

Christine Teigen 2012

Legend met model Chrissy Teigen in 2007 when she starred in the music video for his song "Stereo." They became engaged in December 2011. They were married on September 14, 2013, in Como, Italy. The 2013 song "All of Me" was written and is dedicated to her; the music video was reportedly displayed at their wedding. On April 14, 2016, the couple's first daughter, Luna Simone Stephens, was born. On November 21, 2017, Teigen announced via Instagram that she was expecting the couple's second child, and announced on January 28, 2018, that their second child is a boy. Teigen and Legend's second child, Miles Theodore Stephens, was born on May 16, 2018.

Discography

Studio albums

• Get Lifted (2004)
• Once Again (2006)
• Evolver (2008)
• Love in the Future (2013)
• Darkness and Light (2016)

Collaborations

• Wake Up! (with the Roots) (2010)
• Jesus Christ Superstar Live! (live album from Jesus Christ Superstar Live!) (2018)

Filmography

Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Sesame Street	Himself
2007	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Himself/Performer	Season 6 finale, "The Bat Mitzvah"
	Las Vegas	Himself/Performer	Season 4 Episode 11, "Wagers of Sin"
2008	A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All	Forest Ranger	Christmas Special
2009	The People Speak	Himself	Documentary
2010	Dancing with the Stars	Himself/Performer
2011	Royal Pains	Himself/Performer	"Listen to the Music"
2015	The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon	Himself/Performer	Performed with Meghan Trainor
	Lip Sync Battle	Himself/Contestant	April 2, 2015
	Hollywood Game Night	Himself/Contestant	Season 3 Episode 1
2016–2017	Underground		Producer
2017	The Nightly Show with Gordon Ramsay	Himself	Season 1 Episode 24
2017	Master of None	Himself	Season 2 Episode 5
2018	Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert	Jesus Christ	Also executive producer
Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	Sesame Street: Elmo Loves You!	Himself
	Soul Men	Marcus Hooks
2012	The Savoy King: Chick Webb & the Music That Changed America	Duke Ellington/Voice
2016	Southside with You		Producer
	La La Land	Keith	Also co-wrote/performed "Start a Fire" for film's soundtrack

Images for kids

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  John Legend at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Jan. 18, 2009, during the inaugural opening ceremonies

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  Mayor Garcetti presents John Legend with the Hope of Los Angeles Award 2015