1-866-915-1308 Buy John Legend Tickets, Get Concerts Schedule information and more
An accomplished singer, musician, songwriter and producer, John Legend has been making music of one kind or another since his early childhood. Influenced by a musical family active in the church, the young Legend embraced gospel, classic soul and hip-hop, and the fusion of all three epitomizes his unique sound. He performed and recorded with various groups as well as a solo artist while attending college in Philadelphia and subsequently became seriously involved with the area's neo-soul explosion of the late 1990s. His first major break came from erstwhile Fugee Lauryn Hill, when he played piano on her mega hit single "Everything Is Everything." Since then, he has recorded with a virtual Who's Who of R&B and hip-hop superstars including Jay-Z, Alicia Keys and Janet Jackson. But it was Kanye West who really put him on the map, recruiting him to play and sing on the multiplatinum album The College Dropout, then signing him to his production company KonMan Entertainment, which in turn lead to a deal with Columbia Records. After releasing several self-made CDs to sell at concerts, he dropped his highly anticipated major label debut Get Lifted in early 2005. Executive produced by Kanye, with a laundry list of top-shelf collaborators, the album - and John Legend himself - is guaranteed to be huge.
>> More
About John Legend
John Legend (born John Stephens on December 28, 1978 in Springfield, Ohio) is an African-American R&B and neo soul 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 top 40). 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" as well doing background vocals on Jay-Z's "Encore" and Alicia Keys' "You Don't Know My Name."
Legend was an excellent student, and had the opportunity to attend the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university in Philadelphia. There, he was a member of the coed a cappella group "Counterparts." 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 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, "Getting Out Our Dreams (G.O.O.D)." Legend sang many of the melodic hooks on West’s demo, which would eventually become 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. Legend frequently cites Gospel, R&B, and hip hop as his main musical influences.