John Legend

Short Biography
Accomplished singer, musician, songwriter and producer, John Legend has been making music of one kind or another since his early childhood.

He got his first major break from Fugee Lauryn Hill, when he played piano on her mega hit single Everything Is Everything. Since then, he has recorded with variety of R'n'B and hip-hop superstars including Jay-Z, Alicia Keys and Janet Jackson. But it was only until he played and sang on the multi-platinum album The College Dropout, that he was really noticed. After releasing several self-made CDs at sell out concerts, he released his highly anticipated debut Get Lifted in early 2005. The...

Short Biography
Accomplished singer, musician, songwriter and producer, John Legend has been making music of one kind or another since his early childhood.

He got his first major break from Fugee Lauryn Hill, when he played piano on her mega hit single Everything Is Everything. Since then, he has recorded with variety of R'n'B and hip-hop superstars including Jay-Z, Alicia Keys and Janet Jackson. But it was only until he played and sang on the multi-platinum album The College Dropout, that he was really noticed. After releasing several self-made CDs at sell out concerts, he released his highly anticipated debut Get Lifted in early 2005. The album - and John Legend himself - are guaranteed to be huge.

In-depth Biography
Neo-soul singer and pianist John Legend combined the raw fervor of contemporaries Cody ChesnuTT and the burning precision of D'Angelo. Born John Stephens, Legend was a child prodigy who grew up in Ohio, where he began singing gospel and playing piano at the tender age of five. Legend left Ohio at 16 to go to college in Philadelphia, and it was there that he first found a larger audience. Not yet out of his teens, Legend was tapped to play piano on Lauryn Hill's "Everything Is Everything" in 1998. After completing college, he moved to New York, where he began to build a loyal following playing in nightclubs and releasing CDs that he would sell at shows. He also became an in-demand session musician, playing and occasionally writing for a wide array of artists, including Alicia Keys, Twista, Janet Jackson, and Kanye West. It wasn't until West signed the young talent to his new label that he adopted the Legend name with 2004's Solo Sessions Vol. 1: Live at the Knitting Factory. Get Lifted, his first studio album, was released later in the year. On the strength of enduring single "Ordinary People," the album reached the Top Five of the Billboard 200. This led to three Grammy Awards: Best R&B Album, Best R&B Male Vocal Performance, and Best New Artist. Once Again followed in October 2006. ~ Wade Kergan, All Music Guide