10 Interesting John Legend Facts for Kids (2024 Updated)
John Legend is a hugely talented singer, songwriter, actor, and pianist. His career in the music industry has seen him win many notable awards, and he is truly one of the most talented artists and creative professionals in the industry today. In addition to singing, he has also dipped his toe into the world of acting.
In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at John Legend, his life and work, and some other interesting and fun facts about him. Let’s dive right into it!
What Was John Legend’s Early Life Like?
John Legend’s real name is John Roger Stephens. He was born into a working-class family, consisting of his seamstress mother and factory worker father. Legend showed interest in music from a young age, thanks to his parents and their involvement in their church’s choir.
He was also a smart and academically oriented child that skipped two grades because of his musical talent. Legend began playing the piano at only 4 years old, and accompanied the church choir by the time he was only 7.
After enrolling in college, Legend became the musical director and president of Counterparts, the a capella and jazz club at the University of Pennsylvania.
10 Fun Facts About John Legend
1. John Legend changed his name early in his career.
As we mentioned earlier, Legend’s name is actually John Roger Stephens. However, he changed his name when his musical career was starting to take off! After being introduced to Kanye West and signing with West’s label, Legend was introduced to the poet J. Ivy. Ivy stated that Legend’s music sounded like the old school artists, and felt that John was something of a legend himself. Therefore, Ivy started referring to him as John Legend, and the name has stuck ever since.
2. His first album won a Grammy award.
John Legend’s first album was called Get Lifted, and was an immediate critical and commercial success. Artists like Kanye West and will.i.am helped produce it, and it sold over 100,000 copies during the first week of its release. It was also an international success, performing particularly well in countries like Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands. It’s also interesting to note that this album won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album in 2006.
3. John Legend has collaborated with and been featured on various artists’ records.
Given his musical prowess, it’s no secret that John Legend’s talent has been sought out by various artists, producers, and songwriters! He has worked with severals artists in the music industry and has been featured on their records. Some of these artists include Mary J. Blige, The Black Eyed Peas, Sérgio Mendes, and even Stephen Colbert. It’s also worth noting that Legend had written a song for Michael Jackson.
Read this article on Justin Bieber Facts for Kids.
4. John Legend was involved in a federal lawsuit in 2011.
Sometimes, celebrities get into a little bit of hot water, and John Legend is no different! Back in 2011, Legend was involved in a lawsuit when a songwriter named Anthony Stokes sued him for copyright infringement. Stokes stated that Legend copied a demo for his own song after Stokes shared his song with Legend in 2004. Although Legend denied the claims, he ended up settling with Stokes out of court.
5. John Legend is the first black man to have won an EGOT.
If you aren’t familiar with the concept of an EGOT, it simply refers to people who have won Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards! John Legend won an Emmy for his production work on the televised musical Jesus Christ Superstar. His Tony Award also came from his work as a producer on the show Jitney, written by August Wilson. In 2014, Legend won the Oscar for his song Glory, which was featured in the movie Selma, and he has also won 12 Grammy Awards throughout the course of his musical career.
6. John Legend is married to Chrissy Teigen.
He first met his future wife back in 2006 when he was filming a music video for one of his songs. Chrissy Teigen is a model, cookbook author, and television host. After a few years of dating, Teigen and Legend got engaged and eventually got married in 2013, in Italy. Since then, the couple has had four children and currently live in Los Angeles.
7. John Legend is a philanthropist.
One of the most notable things about John Legend is the fact that he is a philanthropist. He has worked on performing benefit concerts and remained outspoken on issues like racism, war violence, and drug policies in the United States. Over the years, Legend has also sat on boards for organizations such as the Harlem Village Academies, the Education Equality Project, and various others.
He has even donated the sales from his albums to fight various social and medical issues and performed at children’s hospitals. It’s also worth noting that in 2014, Legend founded a campaign called FREEAMERICA; it works on fighting incarceration in the US.
8. John Legend has been a coach on The Voice since 2018.
In addition to all the other things that John Legend does, he has also been a coach on the show, The Voice since 2018! When he first joined the show, he was replacing Jennifer Hudson, and joined the panel of judges consisting of Kelly Clarkson, Adam Levine, and Blake Shelton. With his artist Maelyn Jamon, Legend later went on to becoming the winning coach in 2019.
9. John Legend has been outspoken against R. Kelly.
Legend appeared in the docuseries Surviving R. Kelly in 2019. He was one of a handful of celebrities that not only agreed to appear in the series, but criticized Kelly’s history of abusive behavior. Legend constantly spoke out against Kelly and his actions, and was praised for believing the women that suffered because of Kelly.
10. John Legend played Jesus Christ in 2018.
The musical Jesus Christ Superstar, written by Andrew Lloyd Webber, was revisited and performed as a live-action musical on stage in 2018. The musical was also televised on Easter Sunday that year, and featured an ensemble cast of musicians, including Sara Bareilles, Alice Cooper, and Brandon Victor Dixon. Legend won his Emmy for producing this show!
Conclusion
In this article, we took a closer look at John Legend, a legendary (pun unintended) singer, songwriter, actor, and activist. His career spans more than 20 years, and has seen Legend use his platform and fame for good. We were delighted to learn that he was the first black man to have won an EGOT, and we’re happier still that his career shows no signs of stopping or slowing down any time soon. We hope you enjoyed this article of fun facts!