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.Collection: Trust
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.Collection: Finance
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.Collection: Travel
Experience is a great teacher.Collection: Experience
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.Collection: Wedding
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.Collection: Age
I was a wedding singer as a teenager.Collection: Wedding
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.Collection: Cool
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.Collection: Food
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.Collection: Christmas
Soul is about authenticity. Soul is about finding the things in your life that are real and pure.
When we meet people who are astronauts or deal in astronomy, it's always really fascinating.
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.
I am a feminist. Women are discriminated against in so many ways, and they make up half the population.
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.
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.
In the 1970s, for all the Stevie Wonders, I'm sure there were five artists that were making forgettable music.
Marvin Gaye was one of the coolest. I look to him as a style icon and as an artist.
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.
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.
The best training is to play by ear: trial by fire.
Musicians are in-season all the time.
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.
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.
I love to make fried chicken.
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.
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.
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.
I was homeschooled for several years.
Before every show, I eat half a rotisserie chicken.
We should care about what is going on in the world.
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.
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.'
There's a certain confidence that comes with being sure about the way the world works.
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.
I was always the front man for what I was doing from when I was 6.
I want to move people.
I think writers are prone to hyperbole sometimes.
I played classical as a kid.
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.
Now that I'm coming out with my own record people can see I'm a solo artist.
I always saw myself as a singer-songwriter, a solo-artist, that's why working with other artists was never satisfying for me.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I'm honestly not a great gift giver. I could give better - my girlfriends have always complained about that.
London is a good fashion city. They're a little more daring. There's the element of the aristocracy, which is always interesting.
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.
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.