Fort Lauderdale Magazine: What an absolute pleasure to meet not only a terrific singer, pianist, songwriter and actor, but a brilliant man.
John Legend: And nice to meet you as well.
FLMag: If I listed all your accolades, this interview would be about those alone. However, I would like to highlight your outstanding accomplishments. You won 13 Grammys out of 39 nominations. Overall, you’ve won 36 awards and had 133 nominations.
JL: I know we have 13 Grammys. I’m very grateful for all of the recognition we’ve received over the years. And I just use it as motivation to keep going.
FLMag: Also, you have 10 studio albums and have sold over 10 million albums. Is there one award that means the most to you?
JL: Well, I’m always grateful for the Grammys, because when I envisioned my career, when I was a kid, I would watch the Grammys, and they always represented the pinnacle of great musicianship and artists that have made a huge impact. A lot of my favorite artists historically were winners. I would watch them win on television and aspire to be where they were. So when I first started winning Grammys, it was back with Get Lifted. And as we’re celebrating 20 years of that album, we’re almost on the 20th anniversary of me winning Best New Artist and winning Best R&B Album for Get Lifted, and Best R&B male vocal performance for “Ordinary People.” That time was very special, being nominated for eight [Grammys] for my debut album, and I’ll have to throw in the Oscar as well, because winning for Glory and representing the film Selma and Dr King’s work was a beautiful experience for me, too.
FLMag: And you won the EGOT with the Emmy for Jesus Christ Superstar. And I believe very few artists have ever won an EGOT. I think I’ve read 19.
JL: I think it’s right around there. I was number 15, and then a few have won it since. But yeah, it’s right around 20.
FLMag: Huge congratulations for winning that. What did that accomplishment mean to you?
JL: Well, it was massive. I was able to do it as part of a beautiful production of Jesus Christ Superstar. I won the EGOT and the Emmy that day with two legendary Broadway legends, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, and we [did] it together. So that was quite an achievement. It puts you in rare company. The fact that I’m one of those 20 is pretty amazing,
FLMag: Very impressive. You’ve also done Broadway and launched skin care. What’s next? Did I hear you’re involved with the re-adaptation of the Imitation of Life Broadway play?
JL: Yeah. We’re doing a Broadway musical based on that original material. Imitation of Life was a book and it was a film twice, and now we’re making a Broadway musical based on that story.
FLMag: What inspired you to write the music and lyrics for this musical?
JL: It was our director’s idea, Liesl Tommy. You may know her as the director of the Aretha Franklin biopic starring Jennifer Hudson, but she’s also done a lot of work on Broadway in her career. She’s a wonderful director and a creative person. In her meeting with Universal, our producers, she said, “I really want to make Imitation of Life with John Legend writing the music and Lynn Nottage writing the book.” We didn’t even know each other at the time, but she just said, “This is the team.” And we formed a team. It’s finally going to start making its way to the theater next year.
FLMag: It’s certainly suited for a musical. I will be the first one to see this musical with tissues in hand.
JL: It’s definitely a tearjerker and I’m really excited for people to hear the music, because I’ve never written for Broadway before. It’s kind of a different part of my songwriting and creativity, and I’m excited for people to hear me stretch as a musician.
FLMag: Something else to add to your list. At what age did you study voice?
JL: I didn’t have any vocal training while I was a kid at all. I did take piano lessons, but all my singing was just natural ability and singing in choirs. In fact, my first vocal lesson was after I released Get Lifted. I was touring for Get Lifted, and my voice was giving out on me, and I learned that I was doing it wrong, and I wasn’t breathing properly. It was really taking a toll on my voice, and the way I was singing wasn’t sustainable. I had to learn how to take better care of my voice, to sing and breathe properly to preserve my voice. I continue to take lessons now. It helps me to preserve my instrument and take good care of it and use good techniques to give people great shows. Everywhere we go, I don’t lip sync; I want to give people the best performance every night.
FLMag: You were a better piano player than singer initially?
JL: I was more trained as a pianist as a kid than I was as a vocalist. But honestly, I think I write and sing better now. I think piano playing is probably my third-best skill.
FLMag: Really? I’m shocked!
JL: Well, you have to understand, I’m around a lot of amazing musicians, and there are guys who can definitely play piano much better than I. Most of them are like band leaders, and mine is an amazing pianist. I meet a lot of great pianists, and I do not put myself in the ranks of great pianists.
FLMag: Well, your connection with the audience is so intimate.
JL: It’s a part of my artistry, storytelling and songwriting. I think it’s still important for me to play and sing and tell my story and connect with the audience that way.
FLMag: You entered high school at age 12 and graduated as salutatorian at 16. That was outstanding. So things must come naturally to you.
JL: My mother home-schooled me, and I was a very precocious kid. I like to read a lot, and I skipped ahead a lot when I was a kid. When I went to public school, my mother had them test me and they ended up advancing me a couple years. So I ended up as an 11-year-old in eighth grade and graduated high school at 16, then went to college.
FLMag: Outstanding. So you really should thank your mom for all of that.
JL: Yeah, my mother was a great teacher.
FLMag: Was there a moment in your early days, maybe in a smoky bar or piano lounge, when you thought, “Hmm, this might actually work,” before you became famous?
JL: I was feeling optimistic and it’s hard sometimes, because then you get rejected, and you get doors closed on you, get told “No” multiple times. I was turned down by every major record label, including the one I’m signed to now. But I really did believe that I had something special to offer this business, and I just kept knocking on doors, working on my music and believing that it was going to happen sooner or later.
FLMag: It certainly did. Who is the last person who made you genuinely starstruck?
JL: Starstruck? Oh, wow. I don’t know the last time I was starstruck. I’ll tell you the first time I was starstruck was [when I met] Prince. It was early in my career, and we were at Columbia Records at the time. I was invited to the concert by our label exec, and I got to hang out with Prince, and I was very starstruck when I met him.
FLMag: What do you like most about being a coach on “The Voice,” and how has that impacted you?
JL: I love being a coach on “The Voice.” I’m taping my 11th season now with Adam and Kelly, and we’ve all become friends through working, singing and doing the show together. It’s such a great family atmosphere. Our producers and fellow coaches are wonderful people. The most important part is we get to spend time with these amazing artists who can really sing and inspire us and remind us why we fell in love with music. And it’s such a powerful feeling to be with those artists as they embark on their careers and to share all the things we’ve learned in our own careers.
FLMag: Do you write from a melody in your head or on the piano?
JL: I do both. I like to sit at the piano and write. A lot of times, the melodies will come to me because of what I play on the piano. Sometimes I play something because of what the melody in my head says.
FLMag: Do you ever have writer’s block? And if so, what do you do about that?
JL: Sometimes it’s taken me awhile to land where I want to land. Usually I’ll have some element of the song, but if it takes me a little while to figure that out, I’ll take a walk.
FLMag: What’s your go-to move when the house is chaotic and everyone is melting down, including your children and your wife, and what do you do at that point? Don’t tell me that never happens [laughs].
JL: Oh, we definitely have meltdowns [laughs]. I have two 2-year-olds. I’m a very calm person, so I try to calm things down. I figure most of the time, it’s easier to answer their meltdowns with love than it is to yell at them. I try to figure out a way to bring some peace and calm to the situation and talk to them and hug them and love them. A lot of times, we think kids are being bad, but they’re just afraid or need help.
FLMag: That’s actually a good approach. This is probably a very repetitive question, but which artist has influenced you the most?
JL: It’s probably a pretty close tie between Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. Some days I feel like I’m channeling Marvin more. And some days I feel like I’m channeling Stevie more. Probably Stevie more as a songwriter and Marvin more as a singer.
FLMag: I love listening to both of them as well. John, it has been an absolute pleasure. When will Imitation of Life be on Broadway?
JL: It’ll start in a smaller theater first, as we work out the kinks. Then Broadway, and hopefully it tours after that.
FLMag: I’m looking forward to it because I went through a box of tissues just watching the movie.
JL: That’s what my mother always would tell me when she heard we were working on it. She’d say, “Oh, we cried so much when we watched that movie.” It was so powerful, and hopefully we’ll make a reimagined version of it that really reminds people of the original, but also gives them some new passion and new emotion as we try to create something new.
FLMag: I’m sure your mom is so proud.
JL: Well, thank you.
FLMag: It’s been an absolute pleasure. Thank you for your time and stay healthy.
JL: Thank you, you too.
WHAT: John Legend
WHEN: October 26 – 7:30pm
WHERE: Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood
MORE INFO: myhrl.com
