Once Again, which peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and number one on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, followed in October 2006. This led to three Grammy Awards: Best R&B Album, Best R&B Male Vocal Performance, and Best New Artist. On the strength of enduring single "Ordinary People," the album reached the Top Five of the Billboard 200. Get Lifted, his first studio album, was released later in the year. It wasn't until West signed the young talent to his new label that he adopted the Legend name with 2004's Solo Sessions Vol. He also became an in-demand session musician, playing and occasionally writing for a wide array of artists, including Alicia Keys, Twista, Janet Jackson, and Kanye West. After completing college, he moved to New York, where he began to build a loyal following playing in nightclubs and releasing CDs that he would sell at shows. Not yet out of his teens, Legend was tapped to play piano on Lauryn Hill's "Everything Is Everything" in 1998. Legend left Ohio at 16 to attend college in Philadelphia, and it was there that he first found a larger audience. Born John Stephens, Legend was a child prodigy who grew up in Ohio, where he began singing gospel and playing piano at the tender age of five. Neo-soul singer and pianist John Legend combined the raw fervor of contemporaries Cody ChesnuTT and the burning precision of D'Angelo. *2007 Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group: Family Affair *2007 Best Male R&B Vocal Performance: Heaven *2005 Best Male R&B Vocal Performance: "Ordinary People" Produced by Raphael Saadiq, Kanye West and will.i.am, it is again a mixture of gospel and classic soul showcasing his extraordinary voice, particularly on "Show Me". Legend released his critically acclaimed and Billboard Top Ten second album, Once Again, in October 2006. Legend frequently cites gospel, R&B, and hip hop music as his main musical influences. Legend also played the piano on Lauryn Hill's 1998 song "Everything is Everything" and sang background vocals on Jay-Z's "Encore" and Alicia Keys' "You Don't Know My Name". He is the recipient of six Grammy Awards, and in 2007 he received the special Starlight award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He released his second album, Once Again in 2006, and his latest release, 2008's Evolver showcased a more experimental and upbeat side of Legend.
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Prior to the release of his debut album Get Lifted in 2004, Legend's career gained momentum through a series of successful collaborations with multiple established artists such as Jay-Z, Alicia Keys and Lauryn Hill. Striking that balance-dapper reality-show singer, first-call hip-hop collaborator, dreamy R&B solo artist, artistic social activist-has made Legend worthy of his stage name.John Stephens (born Decemin Springfield, Ohio), better known as John Legend, is a Grammy award winning R&B singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, poet and actor signed to Kanye West's G.O.O.D. During all this, Legend’s side gigs were just as impressive, including a coaching spot on The Voice and an Emmy-winning performance in Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert. He delivered on that promise with an ever-expansive range and emotional gravitas through the ‘00s and ‘10s: his fiery, socially conscious 2010 collaboration with The Roots, Wake Up! his swooning 2013 ballad "All of Me" his smoldering 2016 release, Darkness and Light. A connection with then-up-and-coming producer Kanye West led to Legend’s 2004 debut, Get Lifted, which introduced his sandy croon as one of R&B’s most promising new voices. One invitation to play piano on Lauryn Hill’s “Everything Is Everything” turned into others from hip-hop and R&B artists including Talib Kweli, Mary J.
When he left home to attend UPenn at 16, he became immersed in the humming Philadelphia neo-soul scene that revolved around influential hip-hop band The Roots. Born John Roger Stephens in 1978, he was only six when he started singing in his Springfield, OH church. These accolades are driven by Legend’s towering talent, heard in his fluent command of vintage gospel and R&B, which he weaves into candlelit piano ballads and socially conscious soul burners. Legend is the first African-American EGOT winner, netting an Emmy, GRAMMYⓇ, Oscar, and Tony award. Magnetic, passionate, and disarmingly suave, John Legend’s music is a reflection of the artist himself, whose radiant charisma has lit up the ’00s entertainment landscape.