John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor.
There's a lot of hurry up and wait. But it gives you time to write a song.
I hear melodies and hooks all day. I've always been that way, since I was a kid.
John Legend is a nickname that some friends started calling me, and it kind of grew into my stage name.
I'm craving more soul, I'm craving more truth, I'm craving more socially - just people that are aware of what's going on in the world.
Anybody under the age of forty knows hip-hop, gospel and R&B pretty well, and it's all a part of what we consider to be 'black music. ' There is a natural synergy between the three.
We want to do things that are interesting, great storytelling, some of it is gonna be more fun and funny, some of it is more serious and talking about interesting issues that we think are provocative and interesting to us. Kind of on a more political level. But, you know, just things that we find interesting that we think stories that need to be told.
I don't feel like that many musicians are competitive with each other.
I think it's not enough for us to extend the hand of love. I think it's important that that goes both ways. It's important also that we look at policies we need to change as well.
Sometimes success is just limited to festival circuit.
I think writers are prone to hyperbole sometimes.
I don't like going to football games. I like watching them on television. When you go to a game, it's hard to focus. There's so much going on, and it's cold. I'd rather sit and watch it and get replays and commentary.
I used read about Dr. King a lot as a kid. Independently, from being assigned it or being told by my parents or anything, I was just really excited about him. So I just started reading about him very young and was inspired by his legacy and looked to him as a role model.
I have a great band, with very talented players, and we give everything we have every night.
It's not enough to say we need to love each other, you have to go behind that and say we need to change these policies, we need to fight, we need to protest, we need to agitate for change.
Well, Jeff Buckley for me is one of the greatest singers I've ever heard. And the reason why is he has an amazing range, amazing emotional power in his voice. And the music he put around it also just had this passion and this soul to it and this spirit to it that very few artists have, and he passed at a very young age.
I just want my music to measure up to. Part of it's just thinking about my place in history and how this music is going to be perceived, if it's listened to 30, 40 years from now.
Sometimes there's that perfect moment when the crowd, the music, the energy of the room come together in a way that brings me to tears.
All men should be feminists. If men cared about women's rights, the world would be a better place
I always felt that rap didn't cause crime; it just reflected it.
I'm trying to be me and embrace all the parts of me that have grown up, listened to more music and soaked up more influences.