When John Legend Had To ‘Negotiate’ With Porn Producer To Secure Rights To Stage Name | Hollywood News
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John Legend shares the story behind his name change and legal journey in Amazon Studios’ Words+Music docuseries, alongside Sheryl Crow and Alanis Morissette.
John Legend worked with Kanye West on his 2004 debut album, The College Dropout. (Photo Credit: X)
John Legend is a name synonymous with soul-stirring songs. The 46-year-old is credited to creating some of the most timeless melodies, blending rich vocals with heartfelt storytelling. No wonder he features as one of the honorary members in Amazon Studios’ Words+Music. The new music docuseries from Gunpowder & Sky and Audible premiered on November 30. Now, the first episode, starring the 13-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, has shed light on how he changed his surname to ‘Legend’. John’s birth name was John Roger Stephens.
During the particular episode, John Legend recalled that there was a legal catch to altering his last name to Legend from Stephens. As per his lawyer, the singer had to trademark the name before using it professionally. Interestingly, there was another person who had an almost similar name.
John Legend On Sharing ‘Legend’ Name With Porn Producer
“There is a porn producer who dabbled in rockabilly music, and he went by the name Johnny Legend. The fact that he made music, rockabilly music, and his name was Johnny Legend meant that there was a possible trademark infringement case,” shared John Legend. He revealed that he and his team went out on a search for Johnny Legend to negotiate and sign an “exclusive deal” with him. The agreement mentioned that neither of the two would sue the other and practice their individual professions peacefully.
“He would not try to get into the soul music business pretending to be John Legend. And I am happy to make clear that I kept my side of the agreement. I did not produce any porn, did not make any rockabilly music pretending to be Johnny Legend,” said the All Of Me hitmaker.
John Legend Talks About The Story Behind Becoming ‘Legend’
In the same interaction, John Legend shared that a chance “creative encounter” with Chicago-based artist J Ivy, who inspired him to adopt the name ‘Legend”. It was when he was working on rapper Kanye West’s 2004 debut album, The College Dropout. J Ivy was impressed by John’s musical prowess and said, ‘Man, we’re gonna have to call you the legend,’ ” remembered John. The rest is history.
Coming to Words+Music, the docu-series also stars iconic musicians, including Sheryl Crow and Alanis Morissette.
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Yatamanyu Narain is a Sub-Editor at News18.com with a passion for all things entertainment. Whether he’s breaking the latest Bollywood news or chatting with rising stars in the OTT world, he’s always …Read More
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