John Legend

Legend won three Grammy Awards from eight nominations at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards—"Ordinary People" won Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, Get Lifted won Best R&B Album, and Legend won Best New Artist.

The album's follow-up single, "So High" (remixed with Lauryn Hill), was nominated for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, record producer, and actor.

He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's "Everything Is Everything," and making uncredited guest appearances on Jay-Z's "Encore" and Alicia Keys's "You Don't Know My Name".

John Roger Stephens was born on December 28, 1978, in Springfield, Ohio.

He is the eldest of four children of Phyllis Elaine (née Lloyd), a seamstress, and Ronald Lamar Stephens, a factory worker at International Harvester.

His father was a drummer, while "his mother sang and directed the church choir, and his grandmother was the church organist."

His lead vocals on the group's recording of Joan Osborne's "One of Us", written by fellow University of Pennsylvania alum Eric Bazilian of the Hooters, received critical acclaim, landing the song on the track list of the 1998 Best of Collegiate a Cappella compilation CD.

Legend was also a member of the Sphinx Senior Society, one of Penn's undergraduate senior societies, and Onyx Senior Honor Society.

While at Penn, 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.

He graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English with an emphasis on African-American literature in 1999.

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Legend worked as a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and began producing, writing, and recording his own music.

He was the first artist to sign with Kanye West's GOOD Music, through which he released his debut studio album, Get Lifted (2004).

The album reached the top ten of the Billboard 200, received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and spawned his first hit song, "Ordinary People."

In 2004, Legend stated that his parents were divorced for 12 years before reuniting.

Legend was homeschooled by his mother.

He began playing the piano at age 4.

At the age of 7, he performed with his church choir.

Because of his academic talent, he skipped two grades.

At the age of 12, Legend entered North High School in Springfield, Ohio and graduated as salutatorian.

At the age of 15, Legend won a Black History Month essay competition sponsored by McDonald's, following the prompt "How do you intend to make Black history?"

with an essay about how he intended to be a successful musician, according to an interview on the Carlos Watson Show.

At the age of 16, he enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where he served as the president and musical director of the co-ed jazz and pop a cappella group the Counterparts.

His second album, Once Again (2006) was met with continued success, supported by the lead single "Save Room."

In 2007, he won the Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

His third album, Evolver (2008) further diversified his artistry with other genres; its funk-inspired lead single, "Green Light" (featuring André 3000) peaked within the top 30 of the Billboard Hot 100 and received double platinum certification by the RIAA.

That same year, Legend released the live album John Legend: Live from Philadelphia (2008), followed by his collaborative album, Wake Up! (2010) with Philadelphia-based hip hop band the Roots.

Legend's fourth studio album, Love in the Future (2013) was preceded by the hit single "All of Me".

The pop ballad reached his furthest commercial success as it peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100, spent 23 consecutive weeks in the chart's top ten, and received diamond (14× platinum) certification by the RIAA.

In 2015, he co-performed with Meghan Trainor on her single "Like I'm Gonna Lose You", which peaked at number seven on the chart.

Legend won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and Golden Globe Award for his 2015 single "Glory" (with Common), which was released for the film Selma.

The following year, he released his fifth album Darkness and Light (2016) and departed from GOOD Music.

In 2017, Legend won a Tony Award for co-producing the Broadway stage play Jitney.

Legend has since released A Legendary Christmas (2018), Bigger Love (2020)—which won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album—and his ninth album, Legend (2022).

Throughout his musical career, Legend has received a total of 12 Grammy Awards.

In 2018, Legend portrayed the titular character in NBC's adaptation of the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar.

He received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his acting role and won for his role as a producer of the show, making him the first Black male and second youngest recipient of all four of the major American entertainment awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (EGOT).

Legend is also the recipient of the NAACP's President's Award.

Legend has served as a vocal coach for the reality competition series The Voice from its sixteenth season to its twenty-second season, and again from its twenty-fourth season; he became the show's senior coach following Blake Shelton's 2023 departure.