John Legend

John Legend (2008)

John Legend (born John Roger Stephens on December 28, 1978 in Springfield , Ohio ) is an American pop , R&B and soul singer , pianist , songwriter , actor and Oscar winner . His most successful release is the song All of Me with over 9.8 million units sold. Legend is one of the small group of people who have won all four major American Entertainment Industry Awards ( EGOT ) in a regular competition category.

biography

Raised in a very musical family, his brother Vaughn Anthony is also a musician and attended the local community's gospel choir at a very early age . A scholarship gave me the opportunity to study English at the University of Pennsylvania . Here he also became the choir director of the Bethel AME Church. First contacts with local musicians such as Jaheim or Musiq arose . The most significant acquaintance was with Kanye West , an aspiring producer who worked for artists like Jay-Z or Alicia Keys and who later became a well-known rapper . They deepened their collaboration and Legend sang the chorus in Alicia Keys' You Don't Know My Name . The songs Encore and Lucifer , produced by Kanye West for Jay-Z, feature a piano sample recorded by Legend . Without a label , he produced his first album, which sold well only in the USA.

Kanye West, who had meanwhile founded his own label GOOD Music , signed Legend. In 2004 the album Get Lifted was released . Legend America sang the Beautiful at WrestleMania XXIV . He also starred in the video for American Boy by Estelle and Kanye West in late 2007 . For Mike Shinoda's solo project Fort Minor , he sang the chorus in High Road . In February 2011 he had a guest appearance in the finale of the second season of the drama series Royal Pains . In 2012 he contributed the song Who Did That to You to the Quentin Tarantino film Django Unchained . In 2016 he got a role in the musical La La Land . In 2017 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . With Ariana Grande he sang the theme music for the 2017 musical Die Schöne und Das Biest .

2017 he was headlining the Nobel Peace Prize Concerts , a concert in honor of the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize . In 2018 he won a Tony Award , making him one of the few people to have received at least an Emmy , an Oscar , a Grammy, and a Tony. In October 2018 the song Written in the Stars was released, a collaboration with the South Korean singer Wendy from the girl group Red Velvet . The duet is intended to pay homage to the golden age of Hollywood . At the One World: Together at Home concert he sang Stand by Me (song) with Sam Smith . On the occasion of the 2020 Grammy Awards , a tribute concert for Prince took place in Los Angeles in January 2020 under the motto “Let's Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince”, at which Legend Nothing Compares 2 U sang. The concert aired on US television in April.

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2004	Get lifted	-	-	CH65 (2 weeks) CH	UK12 platinum (50 weeks)UK	US4th × 2 Double platinum (65 weeks)US	First published: December 28, 2004 Sales: + 4,000,000
2006	Once again	DE33 (7 weeks) DE	AT74 (1 week) AT	CH12 (5 weeks) CH	UK10 silver (8 weeks)UK	US3 platinum (39 weeks)US	First published: October 24, 2006 Sales: + 2,500,000
2008	Evolver	DE86 (1 week) DE	-	CH36 (4 weeks) CH	UK21st silver (3 weeks)UK	US4th gold (31 weeks)US	First published: October 28, 2008 Sales: + 750,000
2013	Love in the future	DE47 (2 weeks) DE	AT67 (4 weeks) AT	CH16 (29 weeks) CH	UK2 platinum (67 weeks)UK	US4th gold (91 weeks)US	First published: August 30, 2013 Sales: + 1,264,000
2016	Darkness and Light	-	-	CH32 (9 weeks) CH	UK35 (5 weeks) UK	US14 (15 weeks) US	First published: December 2nd, 2016 Sales: + 40,000
2018	A Legendary Christmas	-	-	-	-	US22 (15 weeks) US	First published: October 26, 2018
2020	Bigger love	-	-	CH30 (2 weeks) CH	UK63 (1 week) UK	US19 (2 weeks) US	First published: June 19, 2020

EPs

year	title	Remarks
2005	Connect sets	First published: 2005
2006	Sounds of the Season	First published: October 2006
2011	iTunes Live from SoHo	First published: January 28, 2011 with The Roots

Collaborations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2010	Wake up!	DE69 (1 week) DE	-	CH15 (5 weeks) CH	UK26 (2 weeks) UK	US8 (14 weeks) US	First published: September 21, 2010 with The Roots

Live albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2008	John Legend: Live from Philadelphia	-	-	-	-	US7 (12 weeks) US	First published: June 3, 2008

More live albums

year	title	Remarks
2001	Live at Jimmy's Uptown	First published: 2001
2003	Live at SOB's New York City	First published: June 10, 2003
2004	Solo Sessions Vol. 1: Live at the Knitting Factory	First published: 2004

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2004	Used to Love U Get Lifted	-	-	-	UK29 (6 weeks) UK	US74 (13 weeks) US	First published: August 31, 2004
2005	Ordinary People Get Lifted	-	-	-	UK4th platinum (25 weeks)UK	US24 gold (20 weeks)US	First published: February 7, 2005 Sales: +950,000
	Number One Get Lifted	DE80 * (3 weeks) DE	-	-	UK62 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: August 23, 2005 feat. Kanye West / * Max Herre
2006	Save Room Once Again	DE78 (3 weeks) DE	-	-	-	US61 (6 weeks) US	First published: August 8, 2006
2008	Green Light Evolver	DE52 (5 weeks) DE	-	CH81 (2 weeks) CH	UK35 (9 weeks) UK	US24 platinum (26 weeks)US	First published: Jul 29, 2008 Sales: + 1,250,000; feat. André 3000
2010	Wake Up Everybody Wake Up!	-	-	CH62 (2 weeks) CH	-	-	First release: August 2nd, 2010 with The Roots feat. Common & Melanie Fiona
2012	Tonight (Best You Ever Had) Think Like a Man (OST)	-	-	-	-	US79 platinum (12 weeks)US	First published: Jan 31, 2012 Sales: + 1,000,000; feat. Ludacris
2013	All of Me Love in the Future	DE13 × 3 Triple gold (95 weeks)DE	AT4th gold (56 weeks)AT	CH1 × 2 Double platinum (97 weeks)CH	UK2 × 4 Quadruple platinum (92 weeks)UK	US1 × 8 Eight times platinum (59 weeks)US	First published: August 12, 2013 Sales: + 9,885,000
2014	You & I (Nobody in the World) Love in the Future	-	-	-	-	US66 (2 weeks) US	First published: April 29, 2014 Sales: + 45,000
	Glory Selma (OST)	-	AT47 (1 week) AT	CH38 (1 week) CH	UK62 (1 week) UK	US49 (3 weeks) US	First published: December 2014 with Common
2016	Love Me Now Darkness and Light	DE28 gold (14 weeks)DE	AT39 (11 weeks) AT	CH14th gold (23 weeks)CH	UK17th gold (21 weeks)UK	US23 gold (19 weeks)US	First published: October 7, 2016
2017	Beauty and the Beast Beauty and the Beast (OST)	-	-	-	UK52 silver (4 weeks)UK	US87 gold (1 week)US	First published: February 3, 2017 Sales: + 840,000; with Ariana Grande
2019	Happy Xmas (War Is Over) A Legendary Christmas	-	-	-	UK9 (3 weeks) UK	US69 (1 week) US	First published: November 21, 2019
2020	Conversations in the Dark Bigger Love	-	-	-	-	US86 (1 week) US	First published: January 10, 2020
	Last Time I Say Sorry	-	-	-	-	US89 (2 weeks) US	Promo Release: March 27, 2020 with Kane Brown

More singles

• 2005: So High (feat. Lauryn Hill )
• 2006: Heaven
• 2007: PDA (We Just Don't Care)
• 2007: Stereo
• 2007: Another Again
• 2007: Show Me
• 2007: Someday
• 2007: Sun Comes Up
• 2008: If You're Out There
• 2009: Everybody Knows
• 2009: This Time
• 2009: No Other Love ( feat.Estelle )
• 2010: Hard Times (with The Roots feat. Black Thought )
• 2010: Wake Up (with The Roots)
• 2011: When Christmas Comes (with Mariah Carey )
• 2013: Who Do We Think We Are ( feat.Rick Ross )
• 2013: Made to Love
• 2016: Penthouse Floor (feat. Chance the Rapper )
• 2017: In America
• 2017: Surefire
• 2018: A Good Night ( feat.BloodPop )
• 2019: Preach
• 2019: We Need Love
• 2020: Actions
• 2020: Bigger Love

As a guest musician

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2004	Selfish Detroit Deli (A Taste of Detroit)	-	-	-	-	US55 (17 weeks) US	First published: May 4th 2004 Slum Village feat. John Legend & Kanye West
2009	Magnificent Deeper Than Rap	-	-	-	-	US62 (11 weeks) US	First published: February 24th, 2009 Rick Ross feat. John Legend
	Heartbreaker Fist of God	-	-	-	UK50 (2 weeks) UK	-	First release: July 2009 MSTRKRFT feat. John Legend
2011	Getting Nowhere Magnetic Man	-	-	-	UK65 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: February 18, 2011 Magnetic Man feat. John Legend
2015	One Man Can Change the World Dark Sky Paradise	-	-	-	-	US82 platinum (10 weeks)US	First published: February 24th, 2015 Big Sean feat. Kanye West & John Legend
	Lay me down	-	-	-	UK1 platinum (9 weeks)UK	-	First published: March 9, 2015 Sam Smith feat. John Legend
	Like I'm Gonna Lose You Title	-	-	CH69 (2 weeks) CH	UK99 gold (1 week)UK	US8th × 4 Quadruple platinum (39 weeks)US	First published: June 23, 2015 Meghan Trainor feat. John Legend
2016	Lists lists	DE85 (1 week) DE	-	-	-	-	First published: March 4th, 2016 Sales: + 25,000; David Guetta feat. John Legend
	Summer Nights	-	-	-	UK60 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: June 17, 2016 Tiësto feat. John Legend
2019	Higher Father of Asahd	-	-	-	UK43 (1 week) UK	US21st gold (2 weeks)US	First release: May 17th, 2019 DJ Khaled feat. Nipsey Hussle & John Legend
The following songs did not appear as single, but were made available for download and streaming through the album and were thus able to achieve a placement:
2011	So Special Tha Carter IV	-	-	-	-	US95 (1 week) US	First release: September 2011 Lil Wayne feat. John Legend
2019	All Day Long The Big Day	-	-	-	-	US94 (1 week) US	Chart entry: August 10, 2019 Chance the Rapper feat. John Legend

Further guest contributions

• 2006: Grammy Family ( DJ Khaled feat.Kanye West, Consequence & John Legend)
• 2008: Finally ( Fergie feat. John Legend)
• 2008: Stay with Me (By the Sea) ( Al Green feat. John Legend)
• 2009: Whatever You Want (Consequence feat. Kanye West & John Legend)
• 2010: Move on Up ( Angélique Kidjo feat. John Legend)
• 2010: Don't Give Up ( Herbie Hancock feat. John Legend & P! Nk )
• 2010: Fall in Love ( Estelle feat. John Legend & Nas )
• 2012: Reminiscing (Don Blaq feat. John Legend)
• 2013: Dance the Pain Away ( Benny Benassi feat. John Legend)
• 2014: Don't Say Goodbye ( Sérgio Mendes feat. John Legend)
• 2020: Drown ( Lecrae feat. John Legend)

Video albums

year	title	Remarks
2005	Live at the House of Blues	First published: November 22, 2005
2008	Live from Philadelphia	First published: April 8, 2008

Awards for music sales

→ Main article : John Legend / Awards for Music Sales

Country / Region	silver	gold	platinum	diamond	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Australia (ARIA)	-	2 × gold2	21 × platinum21st	-	1,540,000	aria.com.au
Belgium (BEA)	-	gold1	platinum1	-	45,000	ultratop.be
Brazil (PMB)	-	-	2 × platinum2	-	80,000	pro-musicabr.org.br
Denmark (IFPI)	-	2 × gold2	7 × platinum7th	-	200,000	ifpi.dk
Germany (BVMI)	-	3 × gold3	platinum1	-	950,000	musikindustrie.de
France (SNEP)	-	2 × gold2	-	-	150,000	infodisc.fr snepmusique.com
Ireland (IRMA)	-	2 × gold2	-	-	15,000	irishcharts.ie
Italy (FIMI)	-	2 × gold2	10 × platinum10	-	530,000	fimi.it
Japan (RIAJ)	-	gold1	-	-	100,000	riaj.or.jp
Canada (MC)	-	4 × gold4th	12 × platinum12	-	1,140,000	musiccanada.com
Mexico (AMPROFON)	-	gold1	3 × platinum3	diamond1	480,000	amprofon.com.mx
New Zealand (RMNZ)	-	2 × gold2	5 × platinum5	-	97,500	nztop40.co.nz
Netherlands (NVPI)	-	2 × gold2	4 × platinum4th	-	250,000	nvpi.nl
Norway (IFPI)	-	-	platinum1	-	10,000	ifpi.no
Austria (IFPI)	-	gold1	-	-	15,000	ifpi.at
Poland (ZPAV)	-	-	3 × platinum3	-	60,000	bestsellery.zpav.pl
Sweden (IFPI)	-	3 × gold3	11 × platinum11	-	560,000	sverigetopplistan.se
Switzerland (IFPI)	-	gold1	2 × platinum2	-	75,000	hitparade.ch
Spain (Promusicae)	-	-	5 × platinum5	-	120,000	elportaldemusica.es
United States (RIAA)	-	7 × gold7th	20 × platinum20th	-	19,959,000	riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI)	2 × silver2	3 × gold3	9 × platinum9	-	4,850,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	2 × silver2	39 × gold39	117 × platinum117	diamond1

Filmography (selection)

• 2008: Soul Men
• 2016: La La Land
• 2017: Master of None (TV series, episode 2x05)
• 2018: Crow: The Legend
• 2019: Between two ferns

Artist awards

• Grammy Awards 2006 :
  • Best New Artist
  • Best Male R&B Vocal Performance ( Ordinary People )
  • Best R&B Album ( Get Lifted )
  • Nominations for: Song of the Year ( Ordinary People ), Best R&B Song ( Ordinary People ); Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals ( So High , featuring Lauryn Hill ), Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance ( Stay With You ), Best Rap / Sung Collaboration ( They Say von Common featuring Kanye West & John Legend)

• Grammy Awards 2007 :
  • Best Male R&B Vocal Performance ( Heaven )
  • Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals ( Family Affair , featuring Joss Stone )
  • Nomination for: Best Male Pop Vocal Performance ( Save Room )

• Academy Awards 2015 :
  • Best film song : Glory from the film Selma (together with Common )

• Grammy Awards 2016 :
  • Best Song Written for Visual Media : Glory (together with Common)

• Tony Awards 2017:
  • Best revival: Jitney (as co-producer)

• Emmy Awards 2018:
  • Outstanding Variety Special (Live): Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert (as producer)

• Grammy Awards 2020 :
  • Best Rap / Sung Collaboration : Higher ( DJ Khaled featuring John Legend & Nipsey Hussle )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ John Legend to headline Nobel Peace Prize Concert 2017 . In: Nobel Peace Prize Concert | Oslo, Norway Dec 11 . September 26, 2017 ( online [accessed December 11, 2017]).
2. ↑ Monica Kim: This K-Pop Star Is Teaming Up With John Legend — Get the First Look. In: Vogue . October 8, 2018, accessed October 9, 2018 . 
3. ↑ Chuck Arnold: Grammy salute 'Let's Go Crazy' proves nothing compares 2 Prince. In: nypost.com. April 21, 2020, accessed April 24, 2020 . 
4. ↑ admin: The Best Moments From 'Let's Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute To Prince' [Videos]. In: liveforlivemusic.com. April 21, 2020, accessed April 24, 2020 . 
5. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
6. ↑ Baobab Studios: Crow: The Legend | Official Animated Movie [HD] | John Legend, Oprah, Liza Koshy. Retrieved December 15, 2018 . 

Web links

Commons : John Legend  - Collection of Images

• Legends website
• John Legend at laut.de