“I'm looking forward to coming back to the area,” he says. “...We're going to sing all the classics that I've recorded over the years on my Christmas album and the Deluxe album. And we're going to do a few non-Christmas songs to mix it up with some hits, and it's going to be fun. It's going to be festive, nostalgic, all the good things.”
Before becoming an award-winning musician and executive producer in television and films, Legend introduced himself in 2004 as a Kanye West protege with the now classic debut album, Get Lifted. With unforgettable hits like “Used to Love U,” “Ordinary People,” “Number One” and “Stay With You,” he changed R&B with his soulful voice, love songs and signature piano skills, creating multiple award-winning albums. In November, he celebrated the 20th anniversary of his debut, gifting fans with bonus material and more.
“So we've been going back through the old songs, doing remixes, doing new collaboration and just connecting with that old material," he says. "And even throwing a couple demos on there that didn't make the album. So it's really exciting to go back and remember that era, but also to refresh it with some new remixes and new collaborations.”
Legend released his first Christmas album, A Legendary Christmas, in 2018. He has since released annual holiday albums to become the face of the holidays alongside singers like Mariah Carey. Legend credits his holiday spirit to his upbringing.
“I've been preparing for this my entire life because my family is so musical. And when we would celebrate the holidays together growing up, my dad's side of the family, we would go to his mother's house, my Granny Steven. And she would host us, and at the end of every Christmas celebration, we'd have about an hour sing-along of Christmas carols from Temptations, Motown Christmas, Stevie Wonder, all that stuff, the Jackson 5, all those Christmas classics we grew up listening to."
Legend will perform his version of holiday classics such as "This Christmas," "Baby It's Cold Outside" and "Silver Bells," which he admits comes with pressure. Converting fans of the classics to love his version is a challenge.
“I haven't been able to tour for Christmas in the last few years because I've been on The Voice every December, and that took up too much of my time to be able to tour. But this season, I'm not on [The] Voice until February. And so, I thought it would be the perfect time to bring the Christmas tour back, and I'm excited to do it.”
How does he deal with the challenge of making well-know holiday songs his own?
“Well, there's always the legacy of the song, and so people have heard versions that they love already," Legend says. "And so part of you is like, 'Well, can I beat those?' But also, I think another part, which I think is the better way to look at it, is can I just put my own spin on it? And it's not about trying to be better than the original, but it's about making it your own and putting your own individual spin on it. And then also, the spin of your collaborating producer. And I happened to be working with one of the great producers in the history of soul music, Mr. Raphael Saadiq. So we just worked on every track and tried to find the right groove for my voice, and for the tone we were trying to set for the album.”
Legend’s family has much to celebrate this season, as the singer’s latest project, My Favorite Dream, a children’s album made with his wife and children, is nominated for “Best Children’s Music Album” at the upcoming 67th Grammy Awards. The family collaborated on the hit song “L-O-V-E.”"It's not about trying to be better than the original, but it's about making it your own and putting your own individual spin on it." – John Legend
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“That was always one of my goals, is to be able to include Chrissy and Luna and Miles on at least one track. So ‘L-O-V-E’ felt like the right one, and so I brought them over to the studio. We just got in the booth and started singing together. The part’s really simple and catchy. I wanted it to be that way because I wanted all the kids, all around the world, to be able to sing along to it. So it was fun bringing them in to be the first kids to sing along to it.”
My Favorite Dream was inspired by his family: wife Chrissy Teigen; two sons, Miles, 6, and Wren,1; and two daughters, Luna, 8, and Esti,1.
“I made it with my kids in mind,” Legend says. “We have two toddlers right now, so this music was definitely inspired by us having toddlers in the house. I just sat down and wrote a bunch of those ideas down, a lot of the phrases and messages we like to give our kids. I wrote everything here at my house, inspired by the family being around, and I'm so happy with the songs we created."
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend's love is one of the many celebrity relationships pop culture idolizes. Prior to collaborating with his wife, the singer had incorporated their relationship into his music often. Because Chrissy and Legend are simply themselves, being the culture’s "relationship goals" is easy.
“We both have very different personalities, but we complement each other really well," he says. "And I love that we're able to be ourselves and be real about our relationship when we interact with our fans and our social media accounts, and everything that we do. ... And so if couples see that and they're inspired by our relationship, I definitely appreciate that. And I'm grateful that I found somebody that I really connect with and that we've built a family together. And hopefully, that's an inspiration for other people who are building their own families.”
Legend contacted musician Sufjan Stevens to create the album. “I've been a fan of his work," Legend says. "And I just asked him if he would be interested in producing this album for me. And I sent him a bunch of the demos of the songs I had written, and he was down to do it, and we made this album together.”
Quincy Jones was a mentor to generations of musicians. Legend had the honor to befriend the icon, who died in November at 91. He was “the best role model,” Legend says.
“I'm so grateful that I've been able to spend a lot of time with him and learn from him,” he says. “And just experience his love and the joy that he brought to everything he did. But as a creative person, I feel like he's one of the most influential creative people in the history of music and pop culture, because he had his hand in so many amazing recordings, and so many amazing films and TV miniseries, like Roots and Color Purple as a film and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as a TV series.
“And then all that music from Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Nancy Sinatra, Michael Jackson. Just so many artists throughout the years that he had a hand in producing and bringing to the world. And then it was genre spanning from jazz to pop to soul, to Latin music, everything. He did it all. ... He's probably the best role model of how a musician can make an influence and an impact in the world.”
As John Legend's Christmas Tour rolls into the holidays, he and his family will postpone their time together and celebrate afterward. “I'll be away from my family a bit while we're touring for Christmas,” he says. “But I'm really excited to come back home and spend the holidays with my family. We're going to fly to London, and we're going to take all the kids and have a festive Christmas season. I'm excited for that. And I think whenever you're away, for a little time, from your family, it just makes you appreciate them more. And it's going to be a wonderful time celebrating Christmas with them.”
The holidays brings reflection along with the creation of new memories.
“I've been reflecting a lot on my legacy, and my career and my journey so far. And part of it was through just doing my solo show, which I also did at the casino (2022 Love In Las Vegas Residency). And that show was all about storytelling, reminiscing about all the things that led me to getting a record deal. All the things that have been stories that made my career what it is. ... All of that journey, I've been talking about it a lot in my solo show. And so I think it's been a season of gratitude and reflectiveness because of that. And then now, as we come up on the 20th anniversary of Get Lifted, it's even more nostalgic.”
A John Legend Christmas starts at 8 p.m., Friday, Dec. 13, at WinStar World Casino and Resort,Thackerville, Oklahoma.
