Lists
12 Things you don’t know about John Legend
- John legend’s real name is John Roger Stephens
- He was homeschooled on and off by his mother
- He began playing the piano at the age of four
- John Legend was offered scholarships to Harvard University, Georgetown University and Morehouse College
- He 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
- John Legend was hired to sing hooks to Kanye West’s music. After signing to West’s label, he chose his stage name from an idea that was given to him by poet J. Ivy
- John Legend and The Roots teamed up to record a collaborative album, Wake Up!, which was released on September 21, 2010. The album was so successful were they won Grammy Awards for Best R&B Album (Wake Up!) and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for “Hang On In There”, won two for NAACP Image Awards – one for Outstanding Album (Wake Up!) and one for Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration.
- In 2012 Legend was granted an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Howard University at the 144th Commencement Exercises
- In 2012 John Legend was appointed by the World Economic Forum to the Forum of Young Global Leaders
- After reading Professor Jeffrey Sachs’ book, The End of Poverty, Stephens was inspired to visit Ghana to learn more about making life better for the people who live under the poverty line. This is when he started his “Show Me Campaign” in 2007. With this campaign, Stephens called on his fans to help him in his initiative
- Legend is currently a judge on the ABC music show Duets along with Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Nettles and Robin Thicke
- He’s birthday is on the 28th of December
