THE HISTORYThe artist I chose for this project is John Roger Stephens, also known as John Legend. Born December 28, 1978 in Springfield, Ohio, John showed musical potential early on. His grandmother taught him to play his first instrument, the piano. He grew up playing and singing in his church choir. His talent at this age was incredible, qualifying him as a child prodigy. Growing up, he listened to the music of Michael Jackson, LL Cool J, Boyz II Men and MC Hammer, very influential African-American artists. They managed to change the way people perceived African Americans with their music and made the world more tolerant. John knew he wanted to become a singer and was determined to make his dream possible. Throughout his youth, he competed in numerous talent competitions, joined an acapella group called the Counterparts, and became a choir director at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. His passion for music was very clear. Deciding to take matters into his own hands, he held small shows in nightclubs, bars, etc., expanding to New York, Boston, Atlanta and more. He produced two self-titled demo CDs which were sold at his concerts. As he prepared to take on any music producer who would accept him, a huge opportunity presented itself. An old classmate of his introduced him to a cousin who was an upcoming new artist/producer, Kanye West. John helped Kanye West on his debut album and has also worked with Alicia Keys, the Black Eyed Peas and Janet Jackson. He signed under Kanye West's GOOD music, before landing a deal with Sony/Columbia Records in 2003. He released a few more live CDs before the release of his debut album "Get Lifted" on December 28, 2004, which includes. ..... middle of paper ...... why he is considerate. This song was written for one of the special women in his life, his wife Christine Teignen. The music video was filmed weeks before their wedding and features his (at the time) fiancée as the female lead. The video ends with a scene from their real wedding. The lyrics “All of me, I love you all. All your curves and edges, all your perfect imperfections,” tells of his love for his wife and everything about her, inside and out. In his eyes, she is perfect. “You are my end and my beginning” is meant to be a declaration that she means everything to him and that they will be together forever. Few people show their love for others in this way. This shows who John really is; a loving, caring and caring person with a huge heart. These reasons and more make John Legend my favorite artist and will continue to be for a very long time.