John Roger Stephens, known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, activist, piano player, and actor. Prior to the release of Legend’s debut album, Get Lifted, (2004) he had collaborated with already established artists and signed to Kanye West’s GOOD Music. In 2007, Legend received the Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Legend won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and Golden Globe Award in 2015 for co-writing the song “Glory” from the film Selma.
He has also won ten Grammy Awards. In 2017, Legend received a Tony Award for co-producing Jitney for the Broadway stage. In 2018, Legend portrayed Jesus Christ in the NBC adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. He received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his acting role, and won for his role as a producer of the show, making him one of 15 people and the first black man to have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. Legend is also the second youngest to achieve the EGOT status.
Some of the best quotes from John Legend are listed below.
- “All men should be feminist. If men care about women’s rights the world will be a better place.” – John Legend
- “Althrough the end of all time. I will stay with you.” – 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
- “But we can’t listen baby. They’ve never had it like this. They don’t know what it is.” – 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’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’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
- “It’s not wrong to be afraid, but you have to fight through fear to overcome it.” – John Legend
- “My head’s under water but I’m breathing fine.” – John Legend
- “My thoughts are stars, I can’t fathom into constellations.” – John Legend
- “On the way we shed some tears. Every day we sacrifice. So we can be standing here. Oh what a hell of a life.” – 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
- “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
- “The future started yesterday, and we’re already late.” – John Legend
- “The more I get, the more I gotta do.” – John Legend
- “The ride for me has been good so far. I am blessed, because I enjoy doing what I am doing.” – John Legend
- “Then, I started very early on building my own e-mail list and Web site and all that. That really helped generate more and more people and compelled the word of mouth.” – 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 more confident and inspired and that’s fun.” – John Legend
- “We wrote this song for a film that was based on events that were 50 years ago. But we say that Selma is now, because the struggle for justice is right now.” – John Legend
- “What great art is able to do is develop empathy in people so they can see other people’s perspectives.” – John Legend
- “Whatever awards come, they come. It’s going to be a fun night either way.” – John Legend
- “When people are marching with our song, we want to tell you that we are with you, we see you, we love you, and march on.” – John Legend
- “When we think about equality and freedom and justice, we know we’ve got more work to do, and we’re going to do that work. We want to do that work, and we hope that our song is inspiration for those who want to do that work as well.” – John Legend
- “When you 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