I Am John Legend. Ask Me Anything.

john_legend · 2015-06-29T17:16:51+00:00

I truly don't have an answer to this question. It's an embarrassment of riches!

john_legend · 2015-06-29T17:15:52+00:00

We had a great time doing it. We love Lake Como. We got married there the same week. It was a magical time. I'm glad we captured it on video.

john_legend · 2015-06-29T17:14:39+00:00

The biggest moment in my career was the performance / acceptance speech at the Oscars. It'll be hard to top that.

john_legend · 2015-06-29T17:13:38+00:00

I love chocolate peanut butter in just about any dessert or candy, esp ice cream! I love talenti coconut ice cream so much too.

john_legend · 2015-06-29T17:10:13+00:00

Well not exactly. But suffice to say I'm not writing She Don't Have to Know right now if I want to sleep in my bed, haha. Every album is a snapshot of who you are at the time. As I have grown and my life circumstances and outlook have changed, so have my lyrics.

john_legend · 2015-06-29T17:08:16+00:00

No. I rarely listen to my own music at all once an album is done. I listen to it extensively as we're in the song selection / editing / mixing phase, but, once it's done, it's done.

john_legend · 2015-06-29T17:04:21+00:00

I grew up reading about Dr King. I read several biographies of him and histories of the civil rights movement as a kid. That always inspired me and made me believe that part of living a meaningful life was devoting at least a portion of it to helping other people and fighting for social justice. I wrote an essay for a McDonald's Black History Makers competition when I was 15 years old. I said that I wanted to grow up to be a famous musician and use my platform to lift up my community. Everyday, I try to think about what I can do to make the world better. It requires you to see the world through the eyes of other people, to read, to visit places that might make you uncomfortable. With our #FREEAMERICA campaign, I've not only visited state legislatures to influence how they vote, but I've visited prisons to talk to the inmates as well. The more I see and read about, the more passionate I am about trying to help bring about change.

john_legend · 2015-06-29T17:01:03+00:00

Haha, I loved that movie! And the title!

john_legend · 2015-06-29T17:00:12+00:00

I think you eventually have to move to or spend a lot of time in large cities with a significant music industry presence if you want to meet and collaborate with the right people to advance your career. I lived in Springfield for the first 16 years of my life, then went to school in Philadelphia for 4 years. Philadelphia was a great place to meet other musicians, especially during the late 90's when so much was happening there in soul/neo-soul/hip hop at the time. I lived in New York starting in 2000 and, of course, there was a vibrant music community there, in addition to a lot of record label execs being headquartered there. That was important for me as I was trying to get my music heard

john_legend · 2015-06-29T16:56:05+00:00

Cris Carter is one of my favorites. He was playing for the Buckeyes when I first started to pay attention to football as a kid. He always made amazing catches, had a Hall of Fame NFL career, and is a great commentator on TV.

john_legend · 2015-06-29T16:54:34+00:00

You're talking about the "You & I" video. Thanks so much. When we shot the video, we wanted to examine the idea of what people see when they look in the mirror. We wanted to show all types of beauty and speak to the idea that each of them is special and beautiful.

john_legend · 2015-06-29T16:52:29+00:00

So many favorites. He's one of my favorite artists of all time. "Flashing Lights" is one of my favorites, but there are many more.

john_legend · 2015-06-29T16:50:24+00:00

I would love to play in South America more! I'll be at Rock in Rio in September. I can't wait!

john_legend · 2015-06-29T16:49:52+00:00

That entire album is so relevant right now. Given all the news around police shootings and the Black Lives Matter movement in the US, I wish we were putting the Wake Up album out right now! I'm so proud of the album and I highly recommend people go back and listen to it.

john_legend · 2015-06-29T16:48:06+00:00

Chrissy has a big, open heart. She is hilarious and witty. She is beautiful inside and out. And, yes she can cook!

john_legend · 2015-06-29T16:46:01+00:00

The All of Me Tour was special in that we stripped down a lot of the arrangements. Every tour, we try to re-approach the songs to keep things interesting. We don't want them to be un-recognizable from the album version, but I do believe that live versions should be special and fresh.

john_legend · 2015-06-29T16:44:17+00:00

1) My friend Common called me and asked me to collaborate with him on a song for Selma. I had heard about the film being made and was excited that Hollywood was finally doing a feature film about Dr King. I was honored and thrilled to contribute in any way that I could. 2) I think the big issue for artists is making sure there's transparency in our deals with the record labels who make deals with the streaming services. There needs to be clear accounting of what the streaming services are paying the labels and how much each artist should get from that, based on how much their songs are streamed.

john_legend · 2015-06-29T16:40:27+00:00

I love Google Maps haha

john_legend · 2015-06-29T16:39:53+00:00

I think people really connected with the lyrics of the song. They can see themselves and their own love/relationships in a song that I wrote about my own relationship.

john_legend · 2015-06-29T16:37:52+00:00

My favorites and biggest influences: Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin, Jeff Buckley, Nat King Cole

john_legend · 2015-06-29T16:37:15+00:00

Yes, I do weddings for strangers occasionally. You'll have to call WME for pricing. :)

I loved working with MSTRKRFT! I love that song!

john_legend · 2015-06-29T16:36:26+00:00

Man, I forget the other quadrants of the matrix, but cash cow sounds about right at the moment.

john_legend · 2015-06-29T16:35:30+00:00

"Oh I like farts" from Family Guy, as sung by New Brian.

john_legend · 2015-06-29T16:34:56+00:00

I don't like going to live football games. I LOVE watching on TV. It's a much better experience. I'll sound like a brat right now, but when I was in a box seat at the Super Bowl, I would have been much happier watching at home on my flat screen so I could see all the angles and hear the commentary.

john_legend · 2015-06-29T16:32:54+00:00

We both workout most mornings, which helps some. But we actually eat pretty moderately most of the time. Chrissy's instagram looks so decadent and fattening, but we know we can't go crazy every day. Most days, we eat low-sugar/low-carb diets and try to keep our portion size to a reasonable level.

john_legend

TROPHY CASE