In December 2016, Legend delivered his fifth studio album, DARKNESS AND LIGHT. Near the end of the year, he released the single "Glory." Written and recorded with Common for the soundtrack of the film Selma, it won the Academy Award early in 2015 for Best Original Song. The album also earned him his first number one hit, "All of Me," which peaked in the spring of 2014 but sold so well it ended up one of the Top Five best-selling singles of the year. It was his fifth consecutive release to peak within the Top Ten of the Billboard 200. After he toured with Sade, Legend collaborated with producers and writers including West and longtime creative partner Dave Tozer for Love in the Future, released in September 2013. Wake Up!, in which he was backed by the Roots, was released in September 2010 with covers of still-relevant, socially aware songs like Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes' "Wake Up Everybody" and Donny Hathaway's "Little Ghetto Boy." It won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. Legend started the following decade with another change of course. October 2008's Evolver, a more pop-oriented set, spun off the sprightly crossover hit "Green Light," while the album went Gold. Live from Philadelphia became a Top Ten album, despite its limited retail presence. Once Again, which peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and at number one on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, followed in October 2006 and eventually went platinum. This led to three Grammy Awards: Best R&B Album, Best R&B Male Vocal Performance, and Best New Artist. On the strength of the enduring single "Ordinary People," the album reached the Top Five of the Billboard 200. Get Lifted, Legend's first studio album, was released that December. Music label that the Legend name was fully adopted with 2004's Solo Sessions, Vol. It wasn't until West signed the young talent to his G.O.O.D. 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, Stephens moved to New York, where he built a loyal following playing in nightclubs and releasing CDs, such as Live at Jimmy's Uptown (2001) and Live at SOB's (2003), that he sold at shows.
Not yet out of his teens, Stephens was tapped to play piano on Lauryn Hill's "Everything Is Everything," a Top 40 hit for the Fugees member's 1998 album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Stephens left his home state at 16 to attend college in Philadelphia, and it was there that he first found a larger audience. Grammy - and Academy Award-winning R&B singer, songwriter, and pianist John Legend, born John Stephens, was a child prodigy who grew up in Ohio, where he began singing gospel and playing piano at the age of five. Chance the Rapper 4:43ġ.3 Darkness and Light John Legend Feat. The music on this album not only reflects Legend's continued evolution as an artist, but also his role as a husband and a new father.ġ.2 Penthouse Floor John Legend Feat. The next chapter of John Legend's continually building career is Darkness And Light. The lead single is the anthemic track, "Love Me Now," written and produced by John Legend with Blake Mills and John Ryan (One Direction). This 12 song collection is produced by Blake Mills (Alabama Shakes), and features multiple guest collaborations including Chance the Rapper, Alabama Shakes' Brittany Howard, and Miguel. 2016 album from acclaimed, multi-platinum selling, Oscar, Golden Globe and 10x Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter John Legend.