“Soul is about authenticity. Soul is about finding the things in your life that are real and pure.”
― John Legend
“The best training is to play by ear: trial by fire.”
― John Legend
“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.”
― John Legend
“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.”
― John Legend
“Experience is a great teacher.”
― John Legend
“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.”
― John Legend
“I always felt that rap didn’t cause crime; it just reflected it.”
― John Legend
“Artists are, I think in general, compassionate people, and part of what makes us artists is that we’re open-minded people, and I think we’re almost, by definition, progressive in a lot of ways.”
― John Legend
“Musicians are in-season all the time.”
― John Legend
“I played classical as a kid.”
― John Legend
“Shoes are important, of course. I love my Lanvin sneakers – they go with a lot of things. And then I think a nice bag is great, so you carry your computer or whatever else in style. I’ve been carrying a Tom Ford backpack lately.”
― John Legend
“I want to move people.”
― John Legend
“If you look at what happened with Underground Railroad, there is so much action. There is so much intrigue; there is so much of historical importance.”
― John Legend
“My style is pretty clean, classic, and elegant, with some elements to make it a little funkier. If you see me on a normal day, I’m usually in a T-shirt and jeans, maybe with some cool sneakers, but I’m pretty basic.”
― John Legend
“I think the thing about love is that even though the things around us change, we as human beings, a lot of the ways we interact, and the ways we love each other is timeless. It requires trust, honesty, commitment, romance, and physical chemistry.”
― John Legend
“I sang ‘All Of Me’ at the wedding. I sang ‘Stay With You’ from my first album. And then Stevie Wonder came up and sang ‘Ribbon In the Sky.’ It was impromptu… It was cool… He’s always been a friend and a mentor to me.”
― John Legend
“When we see people that are impoverished and people who are dealt an unfair hand, then if we have the power to help them, we should try to do that.”
― John Legend
“I was a busy kid in high school – a little bit of an overachiever, I guess. Prom king was kind of silly, but the rest of the stuff was important to me.”
― John Legend
“There’s nothing that can shock me anymore, but at this point, Trump’s made it very clear how his temperament is, how his personality is, what his level of intellectual depth is when it comes to policy, and he’s made it abundantly clear that he’s utterly unqualified to be president – no matter what your political views are.”
― John Legend
“I don’t have a real recipe with measurements for my chicken stew. I just kind of make it up as I go. I made it for the first time one Christmas when I came home from college. It’s guaranteed to cure a cold.”
― John Legend
“I think I’m happier, not just because of winning Grammys and selling records, but because it’s really fulfilling to have all these things happen with something you love to do.”
― John Legend
“I was always the front man for what I was doing from when I was 6.”
― John Legend
“Now that I’m coming out with my own record people can see I’m a solo artist.”
― John Legend
“I love to make fried chicken.”
― John Legend
“I’m honestly not a great gift giver. I could give better – my girlfriends have always complained about that.”
― John Legend
“Obviously, Kanye and I are very different in the way we express ourselves publicly. He’s so passionate… about art, about culture, about creativity. And he’s really good at it. And that honesty manifests itself in ways that are not politically correct, not socially acceptable sometimes.”
― John Legend
“Artists in general never stay in the same place; we keep growing. It’s still you: you still have that core that you always had, but you work with new people and hear new things.”
― John Legend
“I’ve never put out a song that I wasn’t completely proud of and that I didn’t love. In that sense, I’ve never felt like I sold out in any way.”
― John Legend
“I ate some pretty funky, authentic Chinese food in Hong Kong. There was an egg from some bird that’s not a chicken. I can’t remember what it was, but it was green and brown and not very tasty.”
― John Legend
“As a politician, you have to deal with someone wanting you to fail every day. I think I prefer being in a situation where generally people are rooting for me, and if they aren’t rooting for me, they aren’t out there to see my downfall. I respect the people who have the stomach for it.”
― John Legend
“I studied African American studies, and I read these slave narratives and the escape narratives of people that were able to escape slavery and always found those stories intriguing and powerful and inspiring.”
― John Legend
“I’ve fundraised for Hillary, and I’ll be voting for her. I don’t think we should be electing Donald Trump as president, and I’m supportive of Hillary’s campaign.”
― John Legend
“I always figured I would live long enough to see a black president. The movies predicted it. Usually, Morgan Freeman.”
― John Legend
“My fried chicken is very simple. I pan-fry it in a skillet.”
― John Legend
“To have the chance to see your music be elevated and to have almost universally positive response to that music, makes me feel better every day. I feel more confident and inspired, and that’s fun.”
― John Legend
“Hip hop has the urgency and rebelliousness that early rock n’ roll and punk had: a level of rule-breaking and flirtation with danger. It allows you to break the rules.”
― John Legend
“It’s really about making the best music you can make. It’s really about working hard.”
― John Legend
“My first big break came with Lauryn Hill on a track called Everything is Everything, I played piano on that track way back in 1998.”
― John Legend
“I think writers are prone to hyperbole sometimes.”
― John Legend
“In the 1970s, for all the Stevie Wonders, I’m sure there were five artists that were making forgettable music.”
― John Legend
“John legend is a nickname that somebody started calling me a while ago and part of it is ‘cos I sound like an old man when I sing.”
― John Legend
“I always saw myself as a singer-songwriter, a solo-artist, that’s why working with other artists was never satisfying for me.”
― John Legend
“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.”
― John Legend
“Marvin Gaye was one of the coolest. I look to him as a style icon and as an artist.”
― John Legend
“I used to work for a management consulting company, so I dressed differently – business casual, probably a lot of things from Banana Republic. My wardrobe now is definitely more expensive, but I always dress for the occasion.”
― John Legend
“At work, you want to stand out but not in extra-funky ways. At the core, it’s about dressing for girls – who are most of my fans – and you want to dress up for them. You just want to feel like you’re on top of your game.”
― John Legend
“I like cool jackets – a nice fall or winter coat. You can get a lot of use out of it, and you’ll wear it frequently, so it can really set the tone of your uniform for the season.”
― John Legend
“We should care about what is going on in the world.”
― John Legend
“My first album, ‘Get Lifted,’ was a hip-hop soul album that had some of its roots in the church, as far as the sonic choices, in the way that I sing and write songs. I have always had that as part of my background and part of my influence when I am making music.”
― John Legend
“Some people start with the lyrics first because they know what they want to talk about and they just write a whole bunch of lyrical ideas, but for me the music tells me what to talk about.”
― John Legend
“London is a good fashion city. They’re a little more daring. There’s the element of the aristocracy, which is always interesting.”
― John Legend
“I don’t get to listen to music for fun very often; a lot of what I’m hearing is for work and isn’t released yet.”
― John Legend
“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.”
― John Legend
“I don’t feel like that many musicians are competitive with each other.”
― John Legend
“As a nation – and as a world – we need more truth.”
― John Legend
“There’s a certain confidence that comes with being sure about the way the world works.”
― John Legend
“Well, I was always a bit of a political junkie. Even as a kid I would read biographies of presidents and of civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King and Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington.”
― John Legend
“As a young black boy, it made me proud to see black leaders that did something amazing and made the world change.”
― John Legend
“Well, what’s interesting, I try not to think about the radio when I’m writing a song. I want people to love the song, and that means it might not be exactly thinking about the radio, but it’s thinking about your audience and saying, ‘I want people to like this song after it’s done.’”
― John Legend
“I listen to all those kinds of music, from classic soul to hip-hop to Brazilian music to, you know, jazz to indie to alternative. So whatever. I listen to all if it. Classic rock and classic pop, all of that.”
― John Legend
“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.”
― John Legend
“Well, I like songs that have like a little bit of quirkiness to them.”
― John Legend
“You know, my family is very musical, I was surrounded by it. And from four years old I was the one that asked my mother could I take piano lessons.”
― John Legend
“My first attempt at a kiss was in fifth grade, but it didn’t go so well. Later, I used Boyz II Men and Jodeci songs to come on to girls. I had more success.”
― John Legend
“My dad liked a lot of Motown, but I didn’t listen to it until my teenage years.”
― John Legend
“We weren’t allowed to have secular music in the house growing up. I was home-schooled, and gospel was the only choice we had.”
― John Legend
“I don’t actually go to a lot of games because I think football on TV is better. Even though I’m pretty busy, I watch 90 percent of Ohio State’s games.”
― John Legend
“In my neighborhood in Springfield, Ohio, there were a lot of young kids. We all played tackle football after school, but I knew very early on that I was not an athlete.”
― John Legend
“In terms of the technology I use the most, it’s probably a tie between my Blackberry and my MacBook Pro laptop. That’s how I communicate with the rest of the world and how I handle all the business I have to handle.”
― John Legend
“I think they need to get a more reliable way of watching television on the laptop. Because I travel so much, if I want to watch my favorite sports team it might not be showing in that place, so I want a reliable way to watch whatever I want to watch on my laptop.”
― John Legend
“The most I ever spent on technology is building a studio – I built one at home in Los Angeles. I can’t tell you how much exactly, but the whole process is very expensive.”
― John Legend
“The most important thing about technology is that it can seamlessly work its way into your routine and your life.”
― John Legend
“John Legend is a nickname that some friends started calling me, and it kind of grew into my stage name.”
― John Legend
“At the end of the day, there’s only a few major stars in the music business, and then there’s all these people that are aspiring to be that.”
― John Legend
“With Tinder and all these other things, there’s always this kind of illusion with infinite choices. There’s something very cool about saying, ‘Oh, I actually really care about this person, and I want to commit to loving this person and being loyal to this person.’ You can’t get that from the kind of infinite multiple choices that are out there.”
― John Legend
“For me as a songwriter, I love when other people cover my songs.”
― John Legend
“I know how it feels to be a singer who wants to get discovered.”
― John Legend
“Being married is not the same as having a kid because being married to another adult who can take care of themselves to a degree is different than having a kid that is completely dependent on you.”
― John Legend
“I am a feminist. Women are discriminated against in so many ways, and they make up half the population.”
― John Legend
“I was a huge ‘Breaking Bad’ fan. I just loved the whole thing. Always interesting, always urgent. The stakes were always high.”
― John Legend
“The Obamas have been a great example for the country, and I think people are getting a bit nostalgic for that now when they see what some of the alternatives might be.”
― John Legend
“Trump’s been a public personality forever, and that’s fine if you want him to be a reality-TV host, but if you want him to be president, there’s a different standard.”
― John Legend
“Music is so crucial to every film, I think.”
― John Legend
“I think every film is made better by having smart music supervision that’s really in tune with the spirit of the visual content.”
― John Legend
“I like a lot of documentaries, I like political movies and political thrillers. But I also like a good action movie. I like a pretty wide range.”
― John Legend
“When you’re releasing an album, you never know how it’s going to go. You never know how a critic is going to receive it or how much it’s going to sell.”
― John Legend
“When I write, I don’t really focus on duets or anything like that or whether I’m going to feature this or that rapper. I just focus on just making a great song and figure out the rest later.”
― John Legend
“The main focus for me is not trying to find duet partners. It’s about just making great songs. I want most of my album to be in my voice because it’s my point of view.”
― John Legend
“I remember when I first came out as an artist, back in 2004 or 2005, the record label used to take me to all the radio stations and just have me sit in, like, their lunchroom or their conference room, and play for the whole staff. Just to introduce them to me so they would play my records.”
― John Legend
“Some artists I know, they would rather not see the audience or envision them. But for me, I’d rather see them. I feel like part of the reason I perform is to feel that connection. It’s the reason I love it so much.”
― John Legend
“I was playing the piano when I was three, writing songs when I was ten. I had a lot of experience before I got to college. I knew I wanted to be a singer, so anyone who met me, I didn’t let too much time pass before I showed my talent.”
― John Legend
“I’m probably tougher on myself than I used to be. I’ll revise my lyrics more. Part of that is working with the right people and producers who will say, ‘How can you make that better?’ Allowing yourself to collaborate with people will push you toward transcendence.”
― John Legend
“Dr. King was unpopular while he was alive – he’s only popular now because he’s dead and not a threat to anyone.”
― John Legend
“Instead of investing our resources in locking people up, let’s invest more of those resources in our fellow citizens so they don’t end up in the system to begin with. And if they do, they can get back on their feet.”
― John Legend
“I was an English major in college who concentrated in African-American literature and culture. So I read quite a few slave narratives and stories of escape, and I grew up in Ohio, which was a common stop on the Underground Railroad.”
― John Legend
“When we meet people who are astronauts or deal in astronomy, it’s always really fascinating.”
― John Legend
“I signed with Kanye back in 2003, and at that time, ‘The College Dropout’ hadn’t even come out, so he was still relatively unknown compared to where he is now. He wasn’t a household name; people were still calling him ‘Kane.’”
― John Legend
“Even with G.O.O.D. Music, we have artists that have done very well, and we’ve had artists that haven’t. Being attached to Kanye is only going to get you so far. You’ve still got to have the records and the talent and the artistry on your own to carry it.”
― John Legend
“I work with a bunch of producers on every album, but the difference for ‘Evolver’ was that I couldn’t get any time with Kanye. I forget what he was doing at the time, but he was all over the place. We were never at the same city at the same time.”
― John Legend
“Hip-hop is one of the most free art forms there is. There’s so many sounds you can use, so many things you can bring in. You never know, man. I bet years ago people would’ve never said they would hear me with Rick Ross, and we did four classic songs together.”
― John Legend
“The prison-industrial complex, poverty, and the school system has more effect on a young black male in America than Jay-Z does, by far. And that’s not a diss to Jay-Z. The crime rate in the black community was high before hip hop. Rapping about it is just a reflection of the life a lot of people are living.”
― John Legend
“Hip hop is usually a bunch of guys talking to a bunch of guys, in my experience. It’s homosocial, not homosexual, in that it’s almost always all one gender in a room where it’s being created. That locker-room environment has an impact on the language. I think the music suffers ’cause it allows an almost cartoonish level of misogyny.”
― John Legend
“We have this film that we hope to finance, it’s called ‘Southern Rights.’ It’s a documentary about segregated proms that are still happening in the South of America. So there’s a black prom and a white prom, so we hope to finance a film soon about that.”
― John Legend
“I’ve always had an interest in story-telling and history and just film and art in general, but particularly when it comes to storytelling, I think the reason why we became involved in film is because we wanted to get some great stories out there.”
― John Legend
“The video aside, ‘P.D.A’ is a song about when you really love somebody, you just can’t resist wanting to show that out in public sometimes.”
― John Legend
“I was around a lot of gospel as a kid.”
― John Legend
“I don’t think it’s an artist’s responsibility to be political all the time. I think your first responsibility as an artist is to make music that people will listen to and enjoy. However, I think that when you are able to say something that is moving and put it in a great song, then that is even better.”
― John Legend
“There are autobiographical elements to the albums, and when I write, I always reference my own life as well as other things, so I’m just like any novelist or any fiction writer who tells stories.”
― John Legend
“People like Dick Gregory, Paul Robeson, Harry Belafonte and Nina Simone show me what the definition of an artist is – it isn’t just to make art but to speak truth to what’s happening, speak beauty into the world, speak love into the world and also… get involved.”
― John Legend
“In America we have big issues with education – in impoverished communities especially. I work with Teach For All, and so we’re encouraging more people to get into teaching.”
― John Legend
“In New York especially, I always want to wear a nice overcoat to get through the winter: you can wear them so many times, and they make every outfit better.”
― John Legend
“I like things that feel like they’re timeless and really well made and tailored… things that make me feel confident when I leave the house.”
― John Legend
“I feel like fashion is making steps toward diversity, but I think they could do more.”
― John Legend
“As a kid, I wanted to be a musician but also aspired to be Andy Griffith’s lawyer character, Ben Matlock.”
― John Legend
“I was a wedding singer as a teenager.”
― John Legend
“I was homeschooled for several years.”
― John Legend
“Before every show, I eat half a rotisserie chicken.”
― John Legend
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