John Legend

John Legend (born John Stephens on December 28, 1978 in Springfield, Ohio) is an 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" and sang background vocals on Jay-Z's "Encore" and Alicia Keys' "You Don't Know My Name."

Biography

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, "G.O.O.D. Music" label. Legend sang many of the melodic hooks on West?s demo, which would eventually become the Grammy Award winning 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.

Related Topics:
University of Pennsylvania - Ivy League - Philadelphia - Boston Consulting Group - Kanye West - G.O.O.D. Music - The College Dropout - Get Lifted - Common - Be

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Legend frequently cites gospel, R&B, and hip hop as his main musical influences.

Related Topics:
Gospel - Hip hop

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