John Legend then signed to Kanye West's GOOD Music and released his debut album Get Lifted, which reached the top ten on the Billboard 200 and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
66 Facts About John Legend
2.
In 2007, John Legend received the Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
3.
John Legend won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and Golden Globe Award in 2015 for co-writing the song "Glory" from the film Selma.
4.
John Legend has received a total of twelve Grammy Awards.
5.
In 2017, John Legend won a Tony Award for co-producing Jitney for the Broadway stage.
6.
In 2018, John Legend portrayed Jesus Christ in NBC's adaptation of the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar.
7.
John Legend received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his acting role, and won for his role as a producer of the show, making him the first black man and second youngest person to have won all four of the major American entertainment awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony.
8.
From 2019 to 2022, John Legend was featured as a coach on The Voice.
9.
John Legend Roger Stephens was born on December 28,1978, in Springfield, Ohio.
10.
At the age of 12, John Legend attended North High School in Springfield, Ohio, from which he graduated as salutatorian of his class four years later.
11.
John Legend was offered admission to Harvard University and scholarships to Georgetown University and Morehouse College; he ultimately decided to attend the University of Pennsylvania.
12.
At college, John Legend served as the president and musical director of the co-ed jazz and pop a cappella group the Counterparts.
13.
John Legend was a member of the Sphinx Senior Society and Onyx Senior Honor Society.
14.
John Legend released two albums independently: his self-titled demo and Live at Jimmy's Uptown, which he sold at his shows.
15.
John Legend subsequently began working on his demo and began sending his work to various record labels.
16.
John Legend released his debut album, Get Lifted, on GOOD Music in December 2004.
17.
John Legend appeared on albums by Fort Minor, Sergio Mendes, Jay-Z, Mary J Blige, the Black Eyed Peas, Stephen Colbert, Rich Boy, J'Dillian MSTRKRFT, Chemistry, and Fergie, among others.
18.
John Legend tentatively worked with Michael Jackson on a future album for which he had written one song.
19.
John Legend performed a song entitled "It Feels Good When You Sing a Song", a duet with Hoots the Owl.
20.
John Legend performed during the pregame show of Super Bowl XL in Detroit and the halftime show at the 2006 NBA All-Star Game.
21.
John Legend co-wrote and co-produced the bulk of the album, which saw him reteaming with West and will.
22.
In January 2008, John Legend sang in a video for Barack Obama, produced by will.
23.
On March 30,2008, John Legend performed "America the Beautiful" in front of a sold-out crowd of 74,635 in the Orlando Citrus Bowl, now known as Camping World Stadium, for WWE's WrestleMania XXIV.
24.
In 2009, John Legend performed in The People Speak, a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States.
25.
In November 2010, John Legend was featured on West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album, listed a feature on the song 'Blame Game'.
26.
In February 2011, John Legend won three prizes at the 53rd Annual Grammy Music Awards.
27.
On July 5,2011, songwriter Anthony Stokes filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against John Legend in United States District Court in the District of New Jersey, alleging that John Legend's song "Maxine's Interlude" from his 2006 album Once Again derives from Stokes' demo "Where Are You Now".
28.
Also in 2011, John Legend completed a 50-date tour as a guest for British soul band Sade.
29.
John Legend was granted an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Howard University at the 144th Commencement Exercises on Saturday, May 12,2012.
30.
John Legend was a judge on the ABC music show Duets along with Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Nettles, and Robin Thicke.
31.
John Legend's spot was originally for Lionel Richie, who had to leave the show due to a scheduling conflict.
32.
John Legend released his fourth studio album, Love in the Future, on September 3,2013, debuting number 4 on the Billboard 200, selling 68,000 copies in its first week.
33.
In 2014, John Legend partnered with the rapper Common to write the song "Glory", featured in the film Selma, which chronicled the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches.
34.
John Legend was featured on Meghan Trainor's "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" from her debut studio album, which reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100.
35.
John Legend provided guest vocals on Kelly Clarkson's song "Run Run Run" for her album Piece by Piece.
36.
John Legend co-wrote and provided vocals for French DJ David Guetta's song "Listen", as part of the album Listen.
37.
John Legend released his new album Darkness and Light, with first single "Love Me Now", on December 2,2016, with songs featuring Chance the Rapper and Miguel.
38.
John Legend featured on Kygo's song "Happy Birthday" for his debut studio album "Cloud Nine" released in 2016.
39.
John Legend was cast in the title role as the character Crow.
40.
John Legend served as executive producer for the project and performed the original song "When You Can Fly".
41.
On December 19,2017, NBC announced that John Legend had been cast in the title role in the live concert production of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Marcy Avenue Armory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
42.
On May 21,2019, John Legend was the winning coach on The Voice and won the competition with his artist Maelyn Jarmon.
43.
On May 28,2020, John Legend received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music.
44.
John Legend is featured on Carrie Underwood's Christmas album My Gift.
45.
John Legend was among the performers in the Celebrating America television event held on Inauguration Day 2021.
46.
John Legend delivered the commencement address to the Duke University Class of 2021.
47.
On November 12,2021, John Legend signed with Republic Records after completing the contract that lasted for 17 years with Sony Music.
48.
In February 2022 John Legend has launched a music-based NFT platform called 'OurSong'.
49.
John Legend was joined on stage alongside by three Ukrainian female artists Siuzanna Iglidan, Mika Newtown, and poet Lyuba Yakimchuk.
50.
John Legend performed a benefit concert in Springfield, Ohio in 2005 in support of a tax levy for the Springfield City School District.
51.
In May 2007, John Legend partnered with Tide laundry detergent to raise awareness about the need of families in St Bernard Parish, one of the areas most devastated by Hurricane Katrina; he spent a day folding laundry at the Tide "clean start" mobile laundromat and visited homes that Tide was helping to rebuild in that community.
52.
On July 7,2007, John Legend participated in the Live Earth concert in London, performing "Ordinary People".
53.
John Legend joined Sachs as a keynote speaker and performer at the inaugural Millennium Campus Conference.
54.
John Legend then joined the Board of Advisors of the Millennium Campus Network, and has aided MCN programs through online support and funding fellowships for MCN summer interns through the Show Me Campaign.
55.
On September 8,2010, John Legend joined the national board of Teach For America.
56.
John Legend sits on the boards of the Education Equality Project, the Harlem Village Academies, and Stand for Children.
57.
John Legend serves on the Harlem Village Academies' National Leadership Board.
58.
On March 6,2012, John Legend was appointed by the World Economic Forum to the Forum of Young Global Leaders.
59.
Later that year, John Legend stopped by Children's Hospital Los Angeles for a surprise visit and acoustic performance as a part of Get Well Soon Tour.
60.
On June 1,2013, John Legend performed at Gucci's global concert event in London whose campaign, "Chime for Change", aims to raise awareness of women's issues in education, health and justice.
61.
In 2014, John Legend founded the FREEAMERICA campaign, which aims to help reform incarceration in the United States.
62.
John Legend supported the 2018 ballot initiative to pass Florida Amendment 4, which restored the voting rights of Floridians with felony convictions.
63.
In 2016, John Legend co-signed a letter to the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon calling for a more humane drug policy, along with people such as Richard Branson, Jane Fonda, and George Shultz.
64.
Also in 2017 John Legend donated $500,000 to Springfield City School District to renovate an auditorium, which is named in his honor, within the Springfield Center of Innovation.
65.
John Legend performed at the John Legend Theater on October 9,2016.
66.
John Legend met model Chrissy Teigen in 2006 while filming the music video for his song "Stereo".