I was in an a cappella group in school, so it particularly helped me keep my piano chops up. John Legend More Quotes by John Legend More Quotes From John Legend It's an artist's duty to reflect the times in which we live. John Legend duty artist Recently, John and I got to go to Selma and perform it on the same bridge that Martin Luther King walked over. Once a landmark of a divided nation, the spirit of this bridge now for all people regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation or social status. This bridge was built on hope and welded with compassion. Common John Legend compassion race kings 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. John Legend passion emotional artist 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. John Legend hip-hop black age 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. John Legend legends piano track Witnessing the extreme poverty in remote parts of Affrica can make you feel sad and powerless until you realize how little it takes to change these people's lives fundamentally in sustainable ways. John Legend littles people way 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 embrace influence trying J. Ivy is a brilliant man with an incredible voice and a way with words. I've known him for over a decade and owe my stage name to him believing in me back then before I even had a record deal. I'm excited for him to share his truth with the world. John Legend ivy men believe I think you're always policing yourself by trying to do what you think would be "cool" and accepted by other people, until you start to figure out who you really want to be. Growing up is an ongoing push-and-pull of you being yourself and you performing to what society expects you to be. John Legend being-yourself growing-up thinking I've written good love songs when I have been in love and I've written good love songs when I haven't. John Legend good-love been-in-love song Music business is hard. It's very difficult. And it's not for everyone. Even if you can sing or even if you can write a song, it takes a lot of determination, it takes some kind of thick skin. John Legend determination writing song Music wasn't forced on me [in my childhood]. It was something I wanted to do. And ever since, I've never stopped, I've never stopped playing music. John Legend playing-music childhood wanted People tell me all the time that my songs help them express things to loved ones that they may not be able to say themselves. John Legend may song people For me there's insecurity when you're releasing an album because you spend all of this time working on that one thing and then once it's done, it's done. After you put it out there to the public you never know which songs are going to work or even if the album is going to work as a whole so there is a little bit of nervousness around predicting what the numbers will be and if it's going to be well-received. John Legend insecurity numbers song Fear. People are afraid of talking about their fears and insecurities. They're afraid of expressing emotion beyond anger, dominance, or power, and they're afraid of getting in touch with their feminine side. John Legend insecurity emotion people Artists in general never stay in the same place, we keep growing. It's still you, you still have that core that you always had, but you work with new people and hear new things. John Legend growing artist people Happy that New York passed marriage equality tonight. A victory for human rights. Progress. John Legend victory new-york rights I never went through a period where I didn't want to play music. I've always loved it and it's always been a huge part of my life. John Legend periods want play My family is very musical, I was surrounded by it. And from four years old I was the one that asked my mother could I take piano lessons. John Legend piano mother years Women are dealing with the same thing: they're dealing with expectations about how they're supposed to look and how they're supposed to interact with men. I think we're all trying to figure it all out, especially when we're teenagers, but I think the key is to listen and empathize with one another. John Legend teenager men thinking
