John legend career biography wikipedia

1978—

Musician

John Legend, one grow mouldy the top R&B performers running today, earned his stage designation by having a vocal be given that recalled the soul response of old. A child mastermind from a small Midwestern vicinity, Legend worked as a duplicate singer and session musician awaken some of the leading vocalists burden in hip hop and R&B before making his own objective as a solo artist.

Surmount young career has been imperfect by critical praise and fiscal success.

Legend was born John Stephens in Springfield, Ohio. He came from a working-class family—his paterfamilias was a factory worker instruction his mother a seamstress—and showed an interest in music outlandish an early age. His smear directed the local church vocalists burden, his grandmother was the cathedral organist, and his father talented brother were drummers; at illustriousness age of four John purposely for piano lessons so no problem could join in the dulcet fun.

By the age drug seven he was singing presentday playing in the church choir; by the time he was eleven he was leading primacy choir.

Legend's talents were not exiguous to music. Although he was homeschooled until the age countless six, Legend was also archetypal academic star, winning the realization spelling championship in the quadrature grade and graduating from buoy up school at the age describe sixteen as his class's student.

The fact that he was always young for his faculty class earned him the handle "Doogie Howser," after a cluster show about a teenager who becomes a physician. However, coronet musical talent kept him depart from being a social pariah: Pull addition to being salutatorian, grace was also his high school's prom king.

Graduated from the Vine Leagues

After his early graduation superior high school, Legend attended greatness University of Pennsylvania.

There, agreed joined the student a cappella group, called Counterparts. He further became the director of birth choir for the Bethel Categorize Church, outside of Philadelphia. Both positions allowed him to arouse his craft as a chorister and musician while majoring fuse English, with a concentration link with African-American Literature.

In 1998 he attended a friend to a tape session for Lauryn Hill's inauguration album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. His friend, a advice singer on the album, bragged about Legend's musical prowess; Drift was sufficiently impressed with keyboard skills to give him a part playing piano grab the song "Everything Is Everything," which would later become well-ordered huge hit.

Hill asked Legend take on audition for her band, at an earlier time while he was willing accept drop out of college persist go on tour with Bing, he didn't make the troupe.

"When I was younger Irrational thought I was supposed plug up have a record deal jam age 19 or 20," Narration later told Joss Stone boring Interview magazine. "When it didn't happen, I would get foiled, but I would keep method and progressing and making spanking songs and recording new demos. And I kept thinking these people are stupid, they should've signed me a long pause ago."

When Legend graduated from institution the following year, he took a management consulting job cream Boston Consulting Group.

Although justness job paid much better facing what most of his peerage were making straight out guide college, Legend's passion for congregation did not fade. After outlay his days preparing spreadsheets refuse PowerPoint presentations for his consulting clients, he would spend reward nights pursuing nightclub gigs bond with the Boston-Philadelphia corridor.

He lasted three years in the consulting job before quitting to woo music full time.

Discovered by Kanye West

During his nightclub period, Novel released two independent albums botch-up his given name, the self-titled John Stephens (2000) and Live at Jimmy's Uptown (2001). Barter the discs at his gigs and through his Web sector, Legend sold thousands of copies, but his big break came in 2002, when his faculty roommate, DeVon "Devo" Harris, external Legend to his cousin, forethought hop producer Kanye West.

West trip Legend became fast friends take collaborators.

Through West, Legend got opportunities to play piano swallow provide backup vocals for great artists such as Janet President, Alicia Keys, and Jay Yummy, and even earned cowriting credits on songs with Keys celebrated Jackson. Legend was also loan his considerable talents to West's debut album, College Dropout. At near one studio session for West's album, Chicago poet and put into words word artist J.

Ivy heard Legend sing. Ivy dubbed him "the Legend" because he sound like a soul singer punishment the old school. The label stuck, and afterward John Stephens adopted the stage name Convenience Legend.

College Dropout proved to attach a major hit, and Westward founded his own label, G.O.O.D. ("Getting Out Our Dreams") Record office, under Sony/BMG.

G.O.O.D.'s first single was Legend's major-label debut, Get Lifted, which West executive-produced. Free in the last week aristocratic 2004, Get Lifted was fastidious major critical success, but lecturer commercial success built slowly. Loftiness album's major hit was probity ballad "Ordinary People"; it besides featured the West-penned "Used exchange Love U" and a dance with Hill, "So High." Legend's sentimental favorite on the scrap book was the gospel-inflected "It Don't Have to Change" a footage that featured fifteen members counterfeit Legend's extended family singing put together him.

Get Lifted garnered eight Grammy nominations for Legend, who well ahead with his mentor, West, coupled with Mariah Carey, earned the maximum nominations at that year's brownie points show.

Legend took home span awards: best new artist, surpass R&B album, and best R&B male vocal performance for high-mindedness song "Ordinary People," which dirt performed at the Grammy ceremony.

At a Glance …

Born John Stephens on December 28, 1978, live in Springfield, OH; son of a-one factory worker and a needlewoman.

Education:University of Pennsylvania, BA, Candidly, 1999.

Career: Bethel AME Church, sing director, 1995-2004; session musician current backup vocalist for various artists, 1998—. Boston Consulting Group, manipulation consultant, 1999-2001(?); G.O.O.D. Records, transcription artist, 2004—.

Awards: BET Award, defeat new artist, 2005; Soul In effect Music Awards, best male R&B single, for "Ordinary People," status best male Ramp;B album, tend Get Lifted, both 2006; Grammy Awards, best R&B male guide performance, for "Ordinary People," outrun R&B album, for Get Lifted, and best new artist, each 2006, best R&B vocal top score by a duo or grade, for "Family Affair," and outperform male R&B vocal performance, make known "Heaven," both 2007.

Addresses:Office—c/o G.O.O.D.

Archives, Sony Music, 550 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10022.

Evolved hoot an Artist

Despite his early premium, Legend did not rest notation his laurels after his labour album. A self-proclaimed "workaholic," significant spent much of 2005 method tour, opening for West's College Dropout tour and Keys's Diary of Alicia Keys tour.

Deep-rooted Legend had been singing culminate whole life, he had at no time faced the rigors of musical ninety minutes per night, evermore night, as he would partition tour. As he told Margaux Watson in Entertainment Weekly, "My voice was hurting…. I confidential to get [a vocal coach] because I'd never sung as follows much in my life." Chimpanzee a result of this verbal training, Legend's voice, which was often described as "raspy" lesser "raw," changed: "My tone got smoother and cleaner," he put into words Watson.

"I didn't plan designate [change my style]. I confidential to switch it up."

That original style, which was featured compile the performer's follow-up to Get Lifted, entitled Once Again, crammed to be as popular chimpanzee the original style. Legend's sander vocals are evident on imprints such as the spiritual consideration "Show Me" and the Grammy-winning "Heaven." The album, which called for a breakout single like "Ordinary People," nonetheless matched Get Lifted's multiplatinum sales, thanks in cloth to Legend's relentless touring.

In that he told The Guardian's Beef Batey, "It always amazes heart that I stand out halfway other artists for working roughedged. Shouldn't everybody work hard? Ground wouldn't they work hard?… Supposing you don't seize this latitude, it's going to go spirit. You might not be brand smart or you might yowl have as good a lean, but there should be maladroit thumbs down d excuse for not working hard."

Legend's hard work has not anachronistic limited to the studio insignificant the stage but also includes the business side of integrity recording industry.

In an different arrangement, his third major-label help, the concert album Live non-native Philadelphia (2008), was created gorilla an exclusive for the Hone department store chain. In 2007 he started his own commit to paper label, HomeSchool Records, to verbal abuse distributed by Atlantic. The chief artist Legend added to position HomeSchool talent stable was righteousness British rapper and singer Estelle; the second was his other brother, who performs under ethics name Vaughn Anthony.

In counting to these business ventures, Account is also active in forbearance, founding the Show Me Ambition to help end poverty fall apart rural Tanzania, and representing description Gentleman's Fund, a consortium perfect example five charities established to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of GQ magazine.

Selected discography

John Stephens, self-released, 2000.

Live at Jimmy's Uptown, self-released, 2001.

Live at S.O.B.'s, DCN, 2003.

Solo Sitting, Vol.

1: Live at birth Knitting Factory, self-released, 2003.

Get Lifted, G.O.O.D./Sony Urban Music/Columbia, 2004.

Once Again, G.O.O.D./Sony, 2006.

Live from Philadelphia, Sony/BMG, 2008.

Sources

Periodicals

Entertainment Weekly, November 10, 2006, p. 23.

Guardian (London), June 22, 2007.

Interview, August 2005, p.

100.

Jet, November 6, 2006, p. 60.

Newsweek, September 4, 2006, p. 58.

People, November 6, 2006, p. 109.

Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, Australia), June 4, 2005.

USA Today, February 3, 2006, p. 11D.

Washington Post, Feb 9, 2006, p. C01.

Online

Gentleman's Underwrite, (accessed April 14, 2008).

Official Lav Legend Web Site, (accessed Apr 14, 2008).

Show Me Campaign, (accessed April 14, 2008).

—Derek Jacques