IN 2004, John Legend released his debut album, Get Lifted, on his 26th birthday, catapulting him to fame he could have never anticipated. The release won Best R&B Album at the 2005 Grammys, with the single “Ordinary People” earning him Best New Artist and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance awards. Since then, life hasn’t slowed down for Legend, who has gone on to net a total of 13 Grammys, a Golden Globe, a Tony, and four Emmys, as well as being named one of Time’s Most Influential People of 2009 and People’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2019.
Last November, Legend revisited the album that started it all with a two-disc 20th anniversary edition featuring new appearances by Tems, Lil Wayne, Killer Mike, Black Thought, and Simi, as well as 11 bonus tracks that include rare B-sides, eight new remixes, and two previously unreleased original session recordings. In May, he also kicked off his Get Lifted: 20th Anniversary tour, which stops at the Fishers Event Center on November 16.
The decision to rerelease the record with new material was inspired not only by his personal musical journey but also by the fans who have supported him along the way, says Legend. “This album really celebrates my 20-year career. It’s been quite a trip for me doing what I love and connecting with so many fans around the world, and we thought it was a good time to mark this milestone and celebrate it,” he shares.
Naturally, a slate of shows to help commemorate the milestone with fans was a given. It marks Legend’s first major tour since 2021; in the interim, the family man, who is famously married to model Chrissy Teigen, went from a dad of two to a dad of four with the birth of a son and daughter in 2023.
But going back to the basics by hopping back onstage is a reminder of how he got into music in the first place. The artist started out playing piano and singing at a little church in Springfield, Ohio, where his mother was the choir director, his father a drummer and singer, his grandfather the pastor, and his grandmother the organist. Legend’s world was saturated with music from a young age, laying the foundation for his career.
Retreading (and refreshing) old ground with his debut album won’t be the only return to his roots when his tour hits the Midwest next week, with stops in Detroit, St. Louis, and Columbus, Ohio, in addition to Fishers. He’ll also be making a return to the region that raised him.
“I still get that joy each time I go onstage and connect with the audience. That’s what keeps me going, that joy, the love I feel for the music and the connection that music gives us,” he says.
Even with his many musical accolades and growing family, Legend has not stopped to rest on his laurels. Instead, he developed the Get Lifted name into a multimedia brand, producing acclaimed TV and film projects like La La Land and Netflix’s Rhythm + Flow and stage performances like the Broadway revival of August Wilson’s Jitney, as well as a book imprint.
“I felt like this platform was an opportunity to highlight other people who create beautiful art—authors and filmmakers and other artists who we can help elevate,” Legend explains. “I want to get them the attention and acclaim they deserve and get their art out to the world, help their stories reach the world.”
He’s also committed to a number of philanthropic and social causes, building communities that are “stronger, more vibrant, and more loving” by focusing on criminal justice reform, addressing social inequities, and expanding voting rights. In 2014, he founded the national initiative FreeAmerica, which works to end mass incarceration and strengthen communities through investment, advocacy, and cultural change. “There’s a lot of opposition, a lot of backlash to the kind of work that we do,” he says, “but we believe it’s so important that we’re going to keep doing it.”
Legend says his values and his ambition—not only in creating music but also in his social justice efforts—spring from his family and his working class Midwestern upbringing. “Part of it was through our church experience, through religion, but it was also just about how to be a good human being, regardless of what your faith is,” he says, recalling what it was like growing up with a father who was a blue-collar factory worker and a mother who was a homemaker. His mother homeschooled him and his three siblings, and his parents sewed all the family’s clothes.
He’s quick to share that his childhood experiences have helped ground him through “dealing with the music industry and celebrity”—which he and his wife try to extend to their own children through visits back home. “Obviously, my kids have quite a different life experience than I had as a kid,” he notes. “I didn’t even get on an airplane until I visited college in my senior year in high school, so my kids have logged more airline miles. More miles than most human beings.”
No matter how many miles Legend logs in his career—or how many awards he tucks under his belt—the artist says he’ll have time to reflect and pay homage to the people and places that have made and supported him, even the little Midwestern town he grew up in.
“I have deep roots in Springfield, Ohio,” he says. “I feel nostalgic every time I’m home. I feel loved, and I feel really connected.”
