John Legend

Active: 2000 - present

HISTORY

John Stephens (born December 28, 1978) better known by his stage name John Legend, is a Grammy Award winning American soul singer, songwriter, and pianist. His debut studio album, the multiplatinum-selling Get Lifted, was released in late 2004, and features collaborations with rapper and producer Kanye West as well as Snoop Dogg. Get Lifted produced two singles: \"Used to Love U\" (US top 100, UK top 30) and \"Ordinary People\" (US and UK top 30). Legend has won five Grammy Awards. Prior to the release of his debut album, Legend\'s career gained momentum through a series of successful collaborations with multiple established artists. Notably, Legend sang the hooks for hits by Slum Village (\"Selfish\", also featuring Kanye West), Jay-Z (\"Encore\"), and Dilated Peoples (\"This Way\", also featuring Kanye West); played piano on Lauryn Hill\'s \"Everything is Everything\"; and sang background vocals on Alicia Keys\' \"You Don\'t Know My Name\" and Fort Minor\'s \"High Road.\"

HISTORY

Legend was born in Springfield,Ohio. His musical interest started at the age of 3 when his grandmother began teaching him to play gospel piano. By the time he was 7 years old, Legend was singing with the church choir and taking lessons in classical music. Legend attended Springfield North High School, graduating as Salutatorian at 16. He was also prom king and president of the student council[citation needed].

Legend attended the University of Pennsylvania (graduating in 1999), where he studied English with an emphasis on John Stuart Mill and culture. While at Penn, he helmed Counterparts, a coed jazz and pop a cappella group as President (1997?1998) and Musical Director (1998?1999). Legend\'s lead vocals on the group\'s recording of Prince\'s \"One of Us\" propelled the song to critical acclaim,[1] landing the song on the track list of the 1998 Best of Collegiate a Cappella compilation CD.

Oddly, his first job after graduating from Penn was not in the music business -- Legend began working for the Boston Consulting Group, first in Boston and then in New York City. Before becoming a mainstream artist, Legend hit the nightclub circuit in New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., performing as an independent artist and selling the live LPs John Stephens and Live at SOB\'s.

Legend\'s roommate and Penn classmate, Devon Harris, professionally known as Devo Springsteen, introduced Legend to his cousin and then up-and-coming hip hop artist Kanye West. Since that meeting, Legend and West have worked closely, with West signing Legend as the first artist to his new 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 album The College Dropout; in turn, 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 provided vocals for \"High Road\" on the album The Rising Tied by Fort Minor (Mike Shinoda).

VIDEOS AND FILMS

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

Legend\'s song \"Refuge\" appears on the soundtrack to the film The Second Chance. \"Dare to Dream\" is in the movie Pride, and \"Someday\" is part of the soundtrack to the film August Rush.

ONCE AGAIN

The first single from his second album, Once Again, was \"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 that this album contained his favorite song that he had written to date, entitled \"Again.\" He said he 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.

EVOLVER

Legend is preparing for his third studio album Evolver. It is scheduled for an October 28, 2008 release, though it will be pre-released on the Spotify music service the week before. Rapper Andre 3000 of OutKast is featured on the first single of the album on a song titled \"Green Light\". \"It\'s going to be a surprise for a lot of John Legend fans, because it is a lot more upbeat than John is than people think John is,\" Andre insisted. \"I was actually happy to hear it. This is a cool John Legend song.

CHARITIES AND ENDORSEMENTS

On 7 July 2007, Legend participated in the Live Earth concert in London, performing \"Ordinary People\". On July 8, 2007, he participated in the Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, with India.Arie. On July 11, 2007, he participated in the Jazz Open Festival in Stuttgart, Germany, with Amy Winehouse.

Legend recently launched The Show Me Campaign,through which his fans are encouraged to donate funds toward improving the living situations and prospects of victims of extreme poverty in Mbola, Tanzania. Legend, in early 2008, began touring with Prof. Jeff Sachs Columbia University\'s Earth Institute to promote sustainable development as an achievable goal.

Legend returned to his hometown of Springfield, OH on Christmas Eve 2007 for a Coming Home Christmas Benefit Concert in the auditorium of North High School. The performance featured several local talent from Springfield, including Legend\'s younger brother Vaughn Anthony Stephens who helped organize the concert. The performance also featured a tribute to Jason Collier and proceeds went to a scholarship fund set up in his name for local high schoolers.

Legend performed a half-hour set list in support of Barack Obama in his hometown of Springfield, as well as at The Ohio State University and Wright State University campuses on September 29, 2008.

PHILANTROPHY

After reading Professor Jeffrey Sachs\' book, The End of Poverty, Legend was inspired to visit Ghana to learn more about making life better for himself. This is when he started The Show Me Campaign in 2007. With this campaign, Legend is calling on his fans to help him in his initiative for those who reside in Bossaso Village and non-profit organizations that the campaign partners with.

In 2007, Legend became the spokesman for GQ Magazine\'s The Gentlemen\'s Fund, an initiative to raise support and awareness for five cornerstones essential to men: opportunity, health, education, environment, and justice.

In May 2007, Legend partnered with Tide to raise awareness about the need of families in St. Bernard Parish, one of the most devastated areas hit by Hurricane Katrina. He spent a day folding laundry at The Tide Clean Start mobile laundromat and visited homes that Tide is helping to rebuild in that community.

In October 2007, Legend became involved with the Gap\'s (PROJECT) Red Campaign called (2 WEEKS). Gap\'s contribution to the Global Fund from the sale of each (2 WEEKS) t-shirt is equivalent to the average cost of 2 weeks of antiretroviral medicine in Africa, which enables people living with HIV to lead healthy, normal lives.

Legend is also the National Spokesperson for Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT). MLT is a national non-profit that has made ground-breaking progress developing the next generation of African American, Hispanic and Native American leaders in major corporations, non-profit organizations and entrepreneurial ventures.

FAN APPRECIATION

On July 26, 2007, Legend hosted a John Legend Network Members Only Party and Concert called \"The Kings & Queens Bash\" at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, PA. There were 500 participants in attendance and he introduced the acts from his new label, Homeschool Records to his John Legend Network fans: Estelle, his brother, Vaughn Anthony Stephens, Lucy Woodward and The James Gang.

On July 25, 2008, at the Highline Ballroom in New York City, John Legend planned another annual private event for his fans that are members of the John Legend Network called \"John Legend Unplugged\". Legend performed a 21-song set list, including a lot of the new songs that will be on his upcoming album, \"Evolver\", so John Legend Network members were the first to hear the new songs. After the party, John greeted each individual on their way out and took pictures with fans.

ALBUMS

2004 -Get Lifted

2006 - Once Again

2008 - Evolver