FAMOUS RECORDING ARTIST was home schooled. He also attended an Ivy league university HAPPY 36th BIRTHDAY, John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), better known by his stage name John Legend, is an American singer-songwriter andactor. He has won nine Grammy Awards. In 2007, Legend received the special Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.[1] Prior to the release of Legends debut album, his career gained momentum through a series of successful collaborations with multiple established artists. Legend added his voice to those of other artists, assisting in them becoming chart-topper hits. He lent his voice to Magnetic Mans Getting Nowhere,Kanye Wests All of the Lights, on Slum Villages Selfish and Dilated Peoples This Way. Other artists included Jay-Zs Encore, and he sang backing vocals on Alicia Keys2003 song You Dont Know My Name, theKanye West remix of Britney Spears Me Against the Music, and Fort Minors High Road. Legend played piano on Lauryn Hills Everything Is Everything. He has also gained chart topping hits from his solo work as well, including the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, All of Me. Early lifeEdit John Roger Stephens was born on December 28, 1978, in Springfield, Ohio.[2] He is one of four children[3] of Phyllis (née Lloyd), aseamstress, and Ronald Stephens, a factory worker and former National Guardsman.[4][5][6]Throughout his childhood, Legend washomeschooled on and off by his mother.[7] At age four, he performed with his church choir. He began playing the piano at age seven. In 1987,[3] when he was nine,[5] his parents divorced. At the age of twelve, Legend attended North High School, from which he graduated four years later.[8] Upon hissalutatorian graduation, Legend was offered admission to Harvard University and scholarships to Georgetown University andMorehouse College.[9] He attended theUniversity of Pennsylvania, where he studiedEnglish with an emphasis on African American literature.[10] While in college, Legend served as president and musical director of a co-ed jazz and popa cappella group called Counterparts. His lead vocals on the groups recording of Joan Osbornes One of Us received critical acclaim landing the song on the track list of the 1998 Best of Collegiate a Cappellacompilation CD.[11] Legend was also a member of the prestigious senior societies Sphinx Senior Society and Onyx Senior Honor Society while an undergraduate at Penn. While in college, Legend was introduced toLauryn Hill by a friend. Hill hired him to play piano on Everything Is Everything, a song from her album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.[9] During this period, he began to hold a number of shows around Philadelphia, eventually expanding his audience base to New York,Boston, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. He finished college in 1999, and thereafter began producing, writing, and recording his own music. He released two albums independently; his self-titled demo (2000) andLive at Jimmys Uptown (2001), which he sold at his shows. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Legend began working as a management consultant for theBoston Consulting Group.[8] During this time, he began working on his demo and began sending his work to various record labels.[7][12] In 2001, Devo Springsteenintroduced Legend to then up-and-coming hip-hop artist Kanye West; Legend was hired to sing during the hooks of Wests music. After signing to Wests label, he chose his stage name from an idea that was given to him by poet J. Ivy, due to what he perceived old-school sound. J. Ivy stated, I heard your music and it reminds me of that music from the old school. You sound like one of the legends. As a matter of fact, thats what Im going to call you from now on! Im going to call you John Legend. After J. Ivy continued to call him by the new moniker John Legend, others quickly caught on, including Kanye West, and the name stuck. Despite Legends reluctance to change his stage name, he eventually announced his new artist name as John Legend.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 04:02:59 +0000
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