Ah, ol' Johnny L The Fields flagship artist and favorite son of everyone here from all backgrounds and socioeconomic standings; I'm gonna go ahead and quote some from wikipedia to get all the above the board information up and then we'll go from there. I may even be interviewing some of John's old classmates and possibly some fellow musicians from his childhood and teenage stomping grounds.
WIKI
John Stephens (born December 28, 1978), better known by his stage name John Legend, is an American recording artist, musician and actor. He is the recipient of six Grammy Awards, and in 2007, he received the special Starlight award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.[1]
Prior to the release of his debut album, Legend's career gained momentum through a series of successful collaborations with multiple established artists. Legend added his voice to those of other artists, assisting in them reaching chart-topper hits. He lent his voice to that of Kanye West, on Slum Village's "Selfish", and Dilated Peoples' "This Way". Other artists included Jay-Z's "Encore", and sang backing vocals on Alicia Keys' 2003 song "You Don't Know My Name" and Fort Minor's "High Road." Legend played piano on Lauryn Hill's "Everything Is Everything."
Legend was born John Stephens on December 28, 1978, in Springfield, Ohio.[2] He is the son of Phyllis, a seamstress, and Ronald, a factory worker and former National Guardsman.[3][4] Throughout his childhood, Legend was homeschooled on and off by his mother.[5] At the age of four, he began playing the piano and at the age of seven, he rendered music with his church choir. When he was ten, his parents divorced, causing his mother to suffer a breakdown.[4] At the age of 12, Legend attended North High School, from which he graduated four years later.[6] He graduated salutatorian.
According to Legend, he was offered scholarships to Harvard University, Georgetown University and Morehouse College.[7] He attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied English with an emphasis on African American literature.[8] While in college, he helmed Counterparts, a co-ed 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 Joan Osborne's "One of Us" propelled the song to critical acclaim [9] landing the song on the track list of the 1998 Best of Collegiate a Cappella compilation CD. Legend was also a member of the prestigious Sphinx Senior Society while an undergraduate at Penn. While in college, Legend was introduced to Lauryn Hill by a friend. Hill hired him to play piano on "Everything Is Everything", a song from her album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.[7] After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Legend began working as a management consultant for the Boston Consulting Group.[6] During this time, he began working on his demo and began sending his work to various record labels.[5][10] In 2001, Devo Springsteen introduced Legend to then up-and-coming recording artist Kanye West; Legend was hired to sing during the hooks of West's music. After signing to West's label, he chose his stage name from a nickname that was given to him by poet J. Ivy, due to Legend's "old-school sound".[7][11] Legend's vocals can be heard on several tracks including Alicia Keys' "You Don't Know My Name", Jay-Z's "Encore", Kanye West's "Never Let Me Down", Dilated Peoples' "This Way", and Slum Village's "Selfish".
2004–2005: Get Lifted
Legend released his debut album, Get Lifted, in December 2004. It debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200, selling 116,000 copies in its first week.[12] It went on to sell 2.1 million copies in the United States and was certified Platinum by the RIAA.[13][14] It has sold three million copies worldwide.[7] The album produced two singles: "Ordinary People" (US and UK top 30) went straight to number one and "Used to Love U" (US top 100, UK top 30)
John Legend
Get Lifted
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