John Legend Trademarks

John Legend is an award-winning musician and record producer who is a coach on the television competition show The Voice.

John Roger Stephens was born in Springfield, Ohio on December 28, 1978. He came from a musical family that often performed at their church. He learned to play piano at just four years of age and was performing with the church choir by the age of seven. He was homeschooled by his mother until he attended North High School in Springfield, Ohio. After graduating two years early, he chose to attend the University of Pennsylvania over Georgetown University and Morehouse College.

Legend often sang lead for the Counterparts, a jazz and pop a cappella group he was the president and director of. His first taste of success came when he was asked to play piano for Lauryn Hill’s “Everything is Everything” (1999) while he was still in college.

After he graduated, he began pursuing his own music career. Legend wrote, produced, and recorded two of his own albums. The first was his self-titled debut in 2000 and the second was Live at Jimmy’s Uptown (2001). His musical career began to really take off after he was signed by Kanye West to his GOOD Music label, where he took on the stage name “John Legend” a nickname he was given by performance poet J. Ivey.

His first album, released through GOOD Music and produced by West was titled Get Lifted (2004) and contained the singles “Used to Love U,” “Ordinary People,” “Number One,” and “So High,” The album was generally considered to be a critical and commercial success and eventually peaked at number four on the charts. It won the 2006 Grammy for Best R&B Album, while Legend won Best New Artist and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance that year.

As his popularity soared, Legend became a favorite feature artist on the recordings of others, including Jay-Z, Fergie, and Fort Minor. He made major appearances on Sesame Street, in a campaign video for Barak Obama, at the Super Bowl Halftime Show, at WrestleMania XXIV, and at the NBA All-Star Game Halftime Show.

Legend’s second studio album was titled Once Again (2006) and it saw him play a much more active role in the writing and producing of his music than the first album had. It had the singles “Save Room,” “Heaven,” “Another Again,” “Slow Dance,” “P.D.A. (We Just Don’t Care),” “Stereo,” and “Show Me.” The album was certified platinum and considered a critical success. The single “Heaven” won the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance Grammy that year.

In 2008, Legend’s third album, titled Evolver, was released. As the previous two albums had been, it was released through GOOD Music and co-produced by West.  It debuted at number four in the US and charted in the UK and Japan as well. It contained the singles “Green Light,” “If You’re Out There,” “Everybody Knows,” and “This Time.” The album was eventually certified as gold.

Legend performed as a speaker in the documentary The People Speak in 2009. In 2010, he released a collaborative album with The Roots called Wake Up! which won the Grammy for Best R&B Album and the NAACP Award for Outstanding Album. He ran a 50-date tour with Sade in 2011. The following year he received an honorary doctorate from Howard University. In 2013, he married supermodel and actress Chrissy Teigen.

His fourth studio album was titled Love in the Future (2013). The album was a critical and commercial success that spawned the singles “Who Do We Think We Are,” “Made to Love,” “All of Me,” and “You & I (Nobody in the World).”

Along with Common, Legend wrote “Glory.” The song was featured in the historical drama Selma. It won the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2015. The following year, he released his fifth studio album Darkness and Light. In 2017, he sang on the title track of Beauty and the Beast with Ariana Grande. He portrayed Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar, a live production that aired on NBC.

In 2019, Legend was one of many celebrities that spoke out against musician R. Kelly in the special Surviving R. Kelly. Later that year he was named the winning coach on The Voice. In 2022, Legend launched a music-based NFT platform called “OurSong.”

In 2004. John R. Stephens applied for a trademark for “JOHN LEGEND” for CDs, DVDs, and downloadable music, and for live musical performances, record production, and fan club services. In 2009, he obtained a federal trademark registration “JOHN LEGEND” for posters, bumper stickers, and decals, and for t-shirts and sweatshirts.