JOHN LEGEND

John Legend And Muni Long Keep It Sweet Like ‘Honey’ On Their Luscious New Song

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John Legend and Muni Long make worlds collide on their new track “Honey.” Much like the title of the song, it is a sweet, mid-tempo offering. The “Ordinary People” artist handles the first verse and hook, while Long takes on verse two. While both excel at getting people in their moody vibes, this track picks the pace up just a bit behind a thumping drum pattern and a myriad of instruments.

“Honey” follows a somewhat active 2022 for John Legend, who released “Dope,” “Free,” and his collaboration with Sebastian Yatra on “Tacones Rojos.” Muni Long has been riding high off of the momentum of “Hrs & Hrs” which came from 2021’s Public Displays Of Affection. In 2022, she’s released “Pain,” “Another,” and appeared on “Chainzzz” with Kali plus “Baby Boo” with Saweetie. It’s a treat to see two generations of R&B come together in this manner, and hopefully, it’s not the last time the two will collaborate. It is unclear whether either will release an LP coming in 2022, but for now, this will be enough to hold the listeners over.

Check out John Legend and Muni Long’s new track “Honey” above.

Saweetie is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

JID Backs Up John Legend On The R&B Star’s Groovy New Single, ‘Dope’

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JID’s public profile has been growing at an impressive clip this year, in large part because of his contribution to the uber-popular Imagine Dragons song “Enemy,” which features on Netflix’s League Of Legends-inspired animated series Arcane. His standing looks to take another big leap as he links up with another Top 40 favorite in John Legend for Legend’s new single “Dope.” A groovy track that gives 2000s-era Neptunes production vibes, the track finds Legend singing about a paramour that “shows me what dope means.”

Meanwhile, JID finds a way to balance his lightspeed, tongue-twisting flows with the song’s more pop-leaning sensibilities, contributing a verse that might be a little hard to sing along to but won’t trip up dedicated Legend fans who might not yet be aware of JID’s popularity with rap diehards.

The song’s just the latest indication that JID’s long-awaited follow-up to the fan-favorite 2018 album DiCaprio 2 is on the way, even without any official word from JID. Of course, he’s kept his fans well-fed in the years since, contributing to projects from the likes of Conway, Doja Cat, Denzel Curry, his Dreamville compatriots like Lute, and his own Atlanta-based collective Spillage Village. Most recently, he was featured on Dreamville’s new Gangsta Grillz tape D-Day after dropping his comeback single “Surround Sound,” but all these tidbits and teasers are only heightening the anticipation for his next solo album, which hopefully drops sometime this year.

Listen to John Legend’s “Dope” featuring JID above.

John Legend’s Moving Ukraine Tribute Performance Of ‘Free’ Was Introduced By Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

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John Legend 2022 Grammys
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John Legend is a veteran at the Grammy awards. He’s taken home 12 awards and he’s been nominated on 33 occasions throughout his career. This year, Legend wasn’t nominated in any categories, but it hasn’t been too long since he was nominated at the show. In 2020 and 2021, he won in the Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best R&B Album categories respectively, and in 2019, he was nominated in the Best Musical Theater Album category. While Legend won’t leave with a trophy this year, he did make an appearance at this year’s Grammys, and with it came a Ukrainian tribute performance of his new song “Free.”

The track is one that Legend just released today, and it sees him pleading for freedom and an unrestricted life backed by the soft presence of the piano, stirring strings, and a powerful choir. His performance was introduced by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the current president of Ukraine, who gave a speech about the country’s ongoing war with Russia. Legend was also accompanied by Ukrainian singer Mika Newtown and Ukrainian poet Lyuba Yakimchuk for the performance.

Prior to his appearance at the Grammys, Legend became the latest artist to sell their music catalog. According to Bloomberg, Legend sold his copyrights and rights to royalties of his catalog to KKR & Co. and BMG, with each company getting a 50-percent stake. It was not revealed how much Legend made from the deal.

You can watch the Legend’s performance of “Free” and listen to Zelenskyy’s speech in the videos above.

Famous Arthur Lookalike John Legend Could Actually Star In An ‘Arthur’ Movie

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John Legend 2019 iHeartRadio Music Awards Yellow
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An era came to an end recently when after 25 years on the air, the series finale of beloved children’s show Arthur aired last week. The long-running cartoon has been a major part of meme culture in recent years, including the idea that John Legend bears a striking resemblance to the animated titular aardvark. Now, that situation could actually come full circle: In a new interview, Marc Brown, who created the Arthur show and wrote the books it’s based on, noted an Arthur movie “might” be the in the works, and furthermore, it seems he’d really like Legend to be involved.

Brown said:

“My son Tolon has been a producer on the show almost since it started, and he’s working with me, as Peter Hirsch is, on this new show Hop. But he had this idea several years ago about wouldn’t it be interesting to do a live-action version of Arthur. I couldn’t wrap my head around it completely, but it’s an intriguing thought. There might be a feature film in the works soon, too, about Arthur. I’m so excited [laughs]. There was one maybe 15 years ago, and the right people weren’t coming together, so I pulled the plug on it. But now, we’ve got a great idea. I think it’s going to be intriguing for kids. It’s going to be helpful to kids. The subject matter is very timely, and maybe there is even a really interesting person involved… I mean, if I could pick one person I would love to be a part of this project, it might be John Legend.”

He also referenced Legend earlier in the interview when answering a question about the series finale being for both kids today and the now-adults who grew up with Arthur, saying, “I was really happy because I mean, I see myself as Arthur a lot. Sorry, John Legend. We’re going to have to share him here [laughs]. You know, he’s a lot of me when I was in third grade. And I think if I were in third grade now and I was thinking about a career, a graphic novelist made sense. It put my loves together: telling stories, being an artist, and using pictures. So I was really happy that Peter [Hirsch, a writer on Arthur] came up with that idea. It felt right to me.”

Legend hasn’t shied away from the Arthur comparisons and has in fact embraced them, like in a 2018 Google ad when he donned a full Arthur outfit and even re-created the Arthur’s fist meme.

Check out the full interview here.

John Legend Gives Up “All of Me” – Sells His Entire Music Catalogue In Multi-Million Dollar Deal

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John Legend is reaching into his archives and cashing in. He is one of the latest artists to sell the rights to their music. John Legend Sells Entire Music Catalog Though it normally happens with artists at the end of their music career, John Legend is taking a leap and selling the rights to the […]

John Legend Joins The Growing List Of Artists Who Sold Their Music Catalogs

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John Legend Sold Catalog 2021
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Musicians are selling the rights to their music more often than ever these days, it seems, and now John Legend has joined those ranks: Bloomberg reports that Legend sold his copyrights and rights to royalties of his catalog to KKR & Co. and BMG, with each company getting a 50-percent stake. A regulatory filing notes the deal was actually reached in September.

How much Legend earned in this deal was not disclosed. For reference, though, it was reported last week that David Bowie’s catalog had sold for about $250 million. A few weeks earlier, Bruce Springsteen sold his masters and publishing rights for about twice that much. In December 2020, Stevie Nicks sold 80 percent of her publishing for around $100 million and Bob Dylan also sold his for an unknown amount that “was easily in nine figures.”

While Legend isn’t as established as the aforementioned legacy acts, his discography is impressive. In includes four top-four albums (his first four LPs: 2004’s Get Lifted, 2006’s Once Again, 2008’s Evolver, and 2013’s Love In The Future. His seventh and latest album, Bigger Love, was released in 2020. He also had a No. 1 single in 2013 with “All Of Me,” and other recognizable hits include “Ordinary People” and the Andre 3000 collaboration “Green Light.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Basically Every Popular Musician Performed On ‘The Voice’ Season Finale, Like Kid Cudi, Ed Sheeran, And Coldplay

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Kid Cudi Ariana Grande The Voice Finale 2021
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Usually, your best bet to see a bunch of well-known artists performing on TV in rapid succession is to catch an awards show like the Grammys. Well, the next Grammy ceremony is set for late January, but ahead of then, last night offered a different kind of opportunity to watch a ton of musical firepower taking the stage on the same broadcast: The Voice aired the live finale episode of its 21st season last night and pretty much every musician you’ve ever heard of took the stage.

Aside from the show’s contestants, artists who performed included Coldplay and BTS; Walker Hayes; Tori Kelly, Keke Palmer, and some contestants; Ed Sheeran; Jennifer Lopez and Lukas Nelson; Carrie Underwood and John Legend; Alicia Keys; Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi; Kelly Clarkson; Blake Shelton; and John Legend.

Of particular note was Kid Cudi and Ariana Grande giving their Don’t Look Up single “Just Look Up” its live debut. Meanwhile, Coldplay opened the show with “My Universe,” and while BTS couldn’t be there in person, they did show up on stage as holograms. Later, Ed Sheeran, who was a Mega Mentor on the show this season, stopped by to play “Shivers.”

By the way, Ohio sibling trio Girl Named Tom ended up winning the season, making them the first group to do so.

Check out the other performances from The Voice finale below.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Basically Every Popular Musician Performed On ‘The Voice’ Season Finale, Like Kid Cudi, Ed Sheeran, And Coldplay

by
Kid Cudi Ariana Grande The Voice Finale 2021
Getty Image

Usually, your best bet to see a bunch of well-known artists performing on TV in rapid succession is to catch an awards show like the Grammys. Well, the next Grammy ceremony is set for late January, but ahead of then, last night offered a different kind of opportunity to watch a ton of musical firepower taking the stage on the same broadcast: The Voice aired the live finale episode of its 21st season last night and pretty much every musician you’ve ever heard of took the stage.

Aside from the show’s contestants, artists who performed included Coldplay and BTS; Walker Hayes; Tori Kelly, Keke Palmer, and some contestants; Ed Sheeran; Jennifer Lopez and Lukas Nelson; Carrie Underwood and John Legend; Alicia Keys; Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi; Kelly Clarkson; Blake Shelton; and John Legend.

Of particular note was Kid Cudi and Ariana Grande giving their Don’t Look Up single “Just Look Up” its live debut. Meanwhile, Coldplay opened the show with “My Universe,” and while BTS couldn’t be there in person, they did show up on stage as holograms. Later, Ed Sheeran, who was a Mega Mentor on the show this season, stopped by to play “Shivers.”

By the way, Ohio sibling trio Girl Named Tom ended up winning the season, making them the first group to do so.

Check out the other performances from The Voice finale below.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.