John Gets Down & Dirty with CNN.com
NEW YORK (CNN) -- John Legend just woke up from a nap. He's a little groggy, but he's determined to have a serious conversation about evolution. His evolution. The 29-year-old crooner released his third album, "Evolver," this week, and as the title suggests, he's moving in a new direction. In fact, he's doing a lot of moving around ... on the dance floor. CLICK HERE to read the rest of the interview given by CNN's Shanon Cook. Plus, watch the video HERE.
Get a FREE bonus track, "Can't Be My Lover" with purchase of John Legend's new album Evolver This offer is only available at select independent record stores. Visit
www.recordstoreday.com to locate a participating store near you.
Check John out at AT&T's Blue Room! CLICK HERE to watch!
Check Out John Legend on VH1.com What are John's favorite videos? Find out
HERE
IN SUPPORT OF NEW ALBUM, EVOLVER JOHN LEGEND LAUNCHES WORLDWIDE CONCERT TOUR
IN NOVEMBER
EVOLVER Available Tuesday, October 28
Multi-platinum Grammy-Award-winning recording artist and acclaimed performer John Legend will embark on an extensive worldwide concert tour kicking off November 19 in Minneapolis. The first leg of John's North American tour wraps up December 13 with a second leg running from January 12 through February 9. (Please see John Legend tour itinerary below.)
The upcoming John Legend concerts mark the artist's first major tour since his massively successful world tour in 2007 (captured on Live From Philadelphia CD and DVD).
John's special guest on the tour's initial dates is his Columbia Records' label mate Raphael Saadiq, who will be performing songs from his just-released new album, The Way I See It.
One of the most eagerly awaited releases of 2008, EVOLVER is John Legend's first full-length studio album in two years and will be released October 28. Guests on EVOLVER include OutKast's Andre 3000, emerging hip-hop/soul ingŽnue Estelle, R&B/pop superstar Brandy and John's longtime collaborator Kanye West. Songs on EVOLVER include the single "Green Light" (featuring ANDRE 3000), "It's Over" (featuring Kanye West), "Everybody Knows," "No Other Love" (featuring Estelle), "Satisfaction," "This Time," "Cross The Line," "I Love, You Love," "Good Morning," "If You're Out There," and "Quickly" (featuring Brandy).
About John Legend Released in late December 2004, John Legend's debut album, Get Lifted, peaked at 4 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart and became America's 1 Top R&B/Hip-Hop album in January 2005. A critical and commercial triumph, Get Lifted earned John an astounding eight Grammy nominations -- he won Best New Artist, Best Male R&B Vocal Performance ("Ordinary People") and Best R&B album -- while selling more than three million copies worldwide. John's second collection, Once Again, entered the Billboard Top 200 at 3 shortly after its release in October 2006, peaking at 1 on the R&B Album Sales chart, earning an RIAA platinum certification while securing two Grammy nominations: "Save Room" (for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance) and "Heaven" (which won Best Male R&B Vocal Performance).
John racked up his fifth overall career Grammy win in 2006 when "Family Affair" -- a track he'd cut with Joss Stone and Van Hunt for Different Strokes by Different Folks, a Sly & the Family Stone tribute album (Epic/Legacy) -- took home top honors in the Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals category. In 2007, John Legend launched the Show Me Campaign (ShowMeCampaign.org), a grassroots movement whose mission is "to fight economic and spiritual poverty through fostering sustainable development (personal, social, educational, economic) at the individual, family, and small community levels."
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John Legend - 2008 Tour Dates
Wed 11/19 - Minneapolis, MN - Northrop Auditorium TIX
Thu 11/20 - Chicago, IL - Chicago Theatre TIX
Mon 11/24 - E. Lansing, MI - Wharton Center For Performing Arts TIX
Wed 11/26 - Detroit, MI - Masonic Temple Theatre TIX
Fri 11/28 - Toronto, Ont. - Roy Thompson Hall TIX
Sat 11/29 - Montclair, NJ - Wellmont Theatre TIX
Mon 12/1 - Montclair, NJ - Wellmont Theatre TIX
Tue 12/2 - Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre TIX
Fri 12/5 - Philadelphia, PA - Tower Theater TIX
Mon 12/8 - Baltimore, MD - Lyric Theatre TIX
Tue 12/9 - Washington, DC - Constitution Hall TIX
Wed 12/10 - Greenville, SC - Peace Center TIX
Fri 12/12 - Charlotte, NC - Ovens Auditorium TIX
Sat 12/13 - Durham, NC - Durham Performing Arts Center TIX
Rolling Stone's Fall Music Preview CLICK HERE to read what Rolling Stone has to say about EVOLVER
John Premieres "If You're Out There" and Opens the
Democratic National Convention!
"If You're Out There", produced by Trevor Hom and Devo Springsteen
and featuring the Agape Choir, is a new track from the upcoming album Evolver.
It is available online at my.barackobama.com/johnlegend or you can download it here on iTunes.
The purchase of early released tracks will count
towards the purchase of Evolver
using the Complete My Album feature on iTunes.
John Legend Receives The 2008 Humanitarian Award from CARE!
John Legend's efforts to light African poverty have earned him CARE's 2008 Humanitarian Award for Global Change. CARE president and CEO Dr. Helene Gayle sat down with this year's honoree to talk about his efforts in Tanzania... Click image to read full article.
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EVOLVER
He's sold more than five million albums world wide, garnered multiple hit singles ("Ordinary People," "Used to Love U," "So High," "Save Room," "Heaven," "Another Again"), received countless awards (including five Grammys) and wowed rapt audiences across the globe. Music's leading producers clamor to work with him. Fashion aficionados can't get enough of his incomparable style. And the humanitarian community has rallied around his fight to end poverty.
Critics have called him a genius, one of the most compelling and important singer/songwriters of this generation, an elegant ambassador of soul.
With all of the acclaim, it would be easy for John Legend to rest on his laurels, but he continues to push himself, always striving to break new musical ground. "Some people have been making the same album for years and they don't really push the envelope," Legend says. "That's not me. Expect me to experiment. Expect me to always approach the music in new and different ways."
Legend does all that and more on Evolver, the follow-up to his Grammy award-winning Once Again. His new album's name is as succinct as it is bold, a one-word mission statement encapsulating the singer's ambitions. "I am constantly evolving as a person and as an artist," says Legend. "You still have the legacy of what you did before and the people's memory of that will always be there, but with each album you get to question that, to play with it and even rebel against if you want to and I did that with this album."
He proved he was no ordinary R&B singer with his outstanding debut Get Lifted and he successfully evaded the sophomore jinx with the classic Once Again. Bona fides secured, Legend is ready to party on Evolver.
He kicks off the fun with "Green Light," the album's rollicking first single featuring Andre 3000, OutKast's rhyme-wizard-meets-bespokesmodel. "I am a true Andre fan and he doesn't rap much any more so I was really happy he wanted to do this," says Legend, who leaves the piano behind on this synthesizer-driven track. "I knew he wouldn't have chosen to be on the song if it wasn't hot."
On the Pharrell-penned track, "It's Over," Legend repeatedly croons, "What do you keep calling for?" over a thumping new jack swing-inspired beat featuring Kanye West giving his paramour the kiss off. Getting dumped never sounded so good.
"Cross the Line" has the singer attempting to take a platonic relationship to the next level. "Men and women can be friends," Legend says, "but guys always have sex on the brain to some extent. On the right night, in the right dress, with the right amount of drinks, she can get it."
He teams up with Buju Banton on "Can't Be My Lover," a reggae-tinged bonus track that has Legend resisting the charms of a relentless seductress. "Buju brings the dance hall authenticity to this song," John points out. "No one sounds like him."
"Good Morning" has Legend sweet-talking an overnight guest into staying to watch the sunrise and more. "I've never been the kick-the-girl-out-of-the-bed-at-the-end-of-the-evening guy," he says. "I want her to stay."
While Legend tackles the emotional complexities of relationships on tracks like the will.i.am-produced "Satisfaction" and "I Love, You Love" "This Time" find the artist pledging to give up his playboy ways. "This time I want it all," he sings in his signature full-bodied baritone. "I'm showing you all the cards/Giving you all my heart." "You can hear my voice crack on that song and it sounds like I'm struggling, which is a good thing," the singer admits. "Everyone is auto-tuning their voices in an attempt to sound perfect and as a result everyone ends up sounding the same. But I like to hear the imperfections. That's what gives the voice character."
John turns serious with the socially conscious anthem "If You're Out There," which he debuted in Denver during a historic performance opening the Democratic National Convention in August 2008. "The song is a rallying cry," says Legend, "and when I was writing it I knew I didn't want to temper it with cynicism. I wanted to be unabashedly hopeful. Let's go all the way."
"If You're Out There" reflects John's passion for social change. In 2007, John and his team launched the Show Me Campaign whose mission is to fight poverty through fostering sustainable development. Through John's work with economist Jeffrey Sachs and Millennium Promise, the Show Me Campaign has adopted a village in western Tanzania called Mbola. The campaign funds a robust program to help lift this village out of extreme poverty. Additionally, Legend and Sachs have toured the U.S. on a "Poverty Action Tour" to bring the message of sustainable development to the nation's college students. Legend has recently been honored with the 2008 Humanitarian Award from CARE and the 2008 Difference Award from OneXOne.
John Legend has come a long way since his days an in-demand session writer and musician working with Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys and Kanye West, among others. Born and raised in Springfield, Ohio, the singer (born John Stephens) began playing piano at the age of four. He was singing in his church choir by seven and blossomed into a choir director in his teens. He began to work his way into the Philadelphia music scene while studying at the University of Pennsylvania (where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1999). Kanye West gave Legend his first big break when he signed the artist to his G.O.O.D Music production company in 2004.
It would prove to be one of West's smartest decisions. Legend's debut, Get Lifted, opened at 7 on the Billboard Top 200 and turned the singer into an overnight sensation. Featuring the hit singles :Ordinary People," "Used to Love U," and "So High," the album quickly became both a critical and commercial success, selling more than three million copies and earning Legend a slew of awards, including Grammys for Best New Artist, Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B album. Reviews of Get Lifted were glowing:
"His debut will easily set him apart from his R&B counterpartsÉIn Legend's case, believe the hype,"---Billboard.
His critically acclaimed follow-up, Once Again, released in 2006, not only cemented his status as a true artist's artist, but secured his place in the soul music pantheon. Entering the Billboard Top 200 at 3, the album quickly went platinum and won Legend several more awards, including a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance for the single "Heaven." That same year, he was awarded yet another Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for the single "Family Affair" (from the Sly and the Family Stone tribute album, "Different Strokes by Different Folks"). The artist had successfully evaded the sophomore slump and once again critics across the globe were raving:
"Legend triumphs. Vintage sounds, witty storytelling, romantic
optimism and expressive vocals make him one of R&Bs most engaging new stars. Rather than simply trying to duplicate Get Lifted, Once Again pushes things forward." ---USA Today.
"The new level of excellence Legend reaches on Once Again is breathtaking," wrote the Telegraph (UK). "Beautifully rendered, this is a celebration of the music Legend knows and loves."
Reflecting on his evolution, Legend says that at this point in his life he is the most confident that he's ever been. "I'm more comfortable with my entire being," he says. "I'm more engaged in the world around me. In every aspect of my life--in relationships, sexually, emotionally, intellectually--I've grown up. This album is a statement about where I am right now."
