John Legend | John Rogers Stephens

Thanks to his smooth, soulful voice and incredibly moving lyrics, John Legend is a modern musical legend. In any case… legend. With credits like All Of Me, the singer of those swoon-inducing love ballads seems to have the appropriate name for the world of the show industry. The singer’s real name isn’t John Legend, though. His real name is something far less unusual.

He was born John Roger Stephens and learned to play the piano at a young age. He then refined his incredible voice in the church choir as a child. He was also conducting a singing group at the University of Pennsylvania, and he met another future legend, Kanye West. Finally, West made a move that convinced Legend that he had to morph into John Legend, and it was then that a stage name was born, complete with a moniker.