American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor

John Legend

John Roger Stephens, known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist and record producer. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's "Everything Is Everything", and performing as an uncredited backing vocalist on Jay-Z's "Encore" and Alicia Keys' "You Don't Know My Name". He was the first artist to sign with rapper Kanye West's GOOD Music, through which he released his debut studio album, Get Lifted (2004). Preceded by the hit ballad "Ordinary People", the album reached the top ten of the Billboard 200 and received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Born

1978

December 28

Died

Living

Era

1970s

Country

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About

John, in brief

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

1978 Born

Also on December 28

What else happened on this day, through history

418 A papal election begins, resulting in the election of Pope Boniface I.
457 Majorian is acclaimed as Western Roman emperor.
484 Alaric II succeeds his father Euric and becomes king of the Visigoths. He establishes his capital at Aire-sur-l'Adour (Southern Gaul).
893 An earthquake destroys the city of Dvin, Armenia.

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The world in 1978

When John arrived

april 14 Tbilisi demonstrations: Thousands of Georgians demonstrate against Soviet attempts to change the constitutional status of the Georgian language.
april 17 Mir Akbar Khyber is assassinated, provoking the Saur Revolution in Afghanistan.
april 27 John Ehrlichman, a former aide to U.S. President Richard Nixon, is released from the Federal Correctional Institution, Safford, Arizona, after serving 18 months for Watergate-related crimes.
april 27 The Saur Revolution begins in Afghanistan, ending the following morning with the murder of Afghan President Mohammed Daoud Khan and the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

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Same-day contemporaries

Also born on December 28

Alex Chilton 1950–2010 American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2010) David Moss 1981– American ice hockey player George FitzRoy 1665–1716 1st Duke of Northumberland, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire (died 1716) John von Neumann 1903–1957 Hungarian-American mathematician and physicist (died 1957) Johnny Otis 1921–2012 American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2012) Maggie Smith 1934–2024 English actress (died 2024) Martha Wash 1953– American singer-songwriter Noomi Rapace 1979– Swedish actress Steve Van Buren 1920– Honduran-American football player (died 2012)

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Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1978

Anamaria Marinca 1978– Romanian-English actress Andrew Rannells 1978– American actor and singer Ariel Pink 1978– American singer-songwriter Chad Johnson 1978– American football player Eiður Guðjohnsen 1978– Icelandic footballer Faye White 1978– English footballer Frederic Leclercq 1978– French heavy metal musician Gwendoline Christie 1978– English actress Hayley Wickenheiser 1978– Canadian ice hockey player

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More to explore

John's birthday December 28 John's zodiac Capricorn When John arrived 1978