Having won an Emmy Award, 12 Grammys, an Oscar and a Tony Award, the veteran singer-songwriter and devoted activist is now on a band-free solo tour. He performs in San Diego Friday at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park.

No man is an island, as John Donne wrote in his oft-quoted 1624 poem, but veteran singer-songwriter John Legend will sink or swim on his own when he takes to the stage in San Diego Friday night at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park. Now on tour without his band and backing singers, his “An Evening with John Legend” concert could more aptly be billed as “An Evening with Only John Legend.”

“I am the band!” said the the 12-time Grammy Award-winner, who has also won an Oscar, a Tony and an Emmy. “It’s really going to be just me and the piano — no electronic supplements, no extra accouterments.”

Billed as “An evening of songs and stories,” Legend’s one-man summer concert tour comes 19 years after the release of “Get Lifted,” his 2004 major label solo debut album. It earned him three Grammys, including for Best New Artist, and featured his breakthrough hit, “Ordinary People.” The album was co-produced by Kanye West.

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“I’m a singer who also plays piano,” says 12-time Grammy Award-winner John Legend.
(Courtesy of Yu Tsai)

Legend, West and Harold Lilly co-wrote Janet Jackson’s Grammy-winning 2004 hit, “I Want You.” Prior to “Get Lifted,” Legend — an Ohio native born John Roger Stevens — had put out two albums on his own. Steeped in gospel and classic soul and R&B traditions, he also drew from hip-hop, rock and pop to craft songs that were alternately romantic and seductive, spiritual and political, restrained or celebratory.

Legend first earned attention working with Lauryn Hill, and then West, for whom he served as musical director and featured singer. In turn, West was Legend’s manager for a time and the two collaborated on Estelle’s 2008 hit, “American Boy,” J. Cole’s 2011 hit, “Work Out,” and more.

The friendship between Legend and West fractured — apparently irreparably — after Legend backed Joe Biden’s successful 2020 White House bid over the candidacies of both West and then-President Donald Trump.

“We haven’t spoken for quite a while,” Legend, 44, said of West. “But my story would not be the same without our collaborations. And when I talk about it in (my) show, it’s out of gratitude for what those experiences have meant for my life and the impact (our collaborations) had. He’s a brilliant producer and songwriter.

“I’ll always hold those memories and that gratitude for what we were able to do together, because my story wouldn’t be complete without it. “

Politically engaged

John Legend poses in 2010 with Jill Biden, then-Vice-President Joe Biden and Robin Roberts at Sesame Workshop’s 8th Annual Benefit Gala in New York City.
(Theo Wargo / WireImage)

Legend’s story also wouldn’t be complete without his devotion to social and political activism.

In 2007, he launched his The Show Me Campaign, a nonprofit created to provide children access to a quality education and to address systemic issues in the U.S. criminal justice system that disproportionately impact the poor, minorities and the disadvantaged.

In 2014, Legend partnered with The National Writing Project — with support from the MacArthur Foundation — to create LRNG Innovators. Its mission is to empower teachers to redesign learning in order to better connect students with their passions.

Also in 2014, Legend launched FREEAMERICA to campaign against mass incarceration. That was followed in 2021 by HUMANLEVEL, an initiative to lift up communities that are disproportionately impacted by institutionalized racism.

Legend discussed his music, his politics and other topics last Friday in a phone interview from his Los Angeles home, where he lives with his wife, model and TV personality Chrissy Teigen, and their three children. These are highlights from that interview. They have been edited for length and clarity.

Q: Here’s a left-field opening question. Diana Ross and Janet Jackson are performing concerts in San Diego on the same night. Which one would you go to?

A: (laughs) Oh, wow! I think I’d pick Janet, only because I’ve never been able to see her live and always wanted to. And, to be very honest, my biggest crush as an adolescent was Janet.

Q: Have you ever told her that?

A: (laughs again) I’ve met her, but I didn’t get into details!

Q: Your latest album, “Legend,” has dozens of collaborators. You are now on a solo tour, without a band, which seems like an intriguing way to tour behind an album with so many collaborators. Is that deliberate, in that it would be hard to do the “Legend” album live, without a huge band and maybe even an orchestra?

A: Not really. The cause and effect was we did a huge show in Las Vegas last year that encompassed my entire career and also some of the new songs from “Legend,” and we had a blast. But one of my favorite parts of that show was the middle section, where I sat at a piano by myself. It was very intimate and a moment for me to tell more stories to the audience.

At about the same time last year, I was contacted by Audible to do an entry in their “Words & Music” series. And my idea for it was to tell a story about my life and how the music that influenced me is related to my life story. So, we created a two-hour show for Audible and it’s the precursor for this solo tour. And now we’ve added more visuals and developed it even more.

John Legend is now on a solo tour, sans band. He is shown here during his Sept. 19, 2021, concert at Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre at SDSU.
(Kristian Carreon/For The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Q: Are you doing more piano solos on the tour?

A: Yeah, there is more soloing, although I’m not a great soloist. I’ve worked with people with great jazz chops and amazing improvisational skills, and I’m not that. I’m a singer who also plays piano. The people in my band are much better singers and soloists than me. But I’m good enough on piano and I tell my stories.

Q: We last spoke in 2009, not long after your “Evolver” album came out. What does music mean to you now that it didn’t then, and how has your impetus for making music changed?

A: Well, music has always been such a powerful force in my life, a way for me to express myself. I truly love the fact I get to wake up every morning and write music and come up with new ideas for my performances.

What has changed is I have a family now. Having kids changes your perspective and makes you think differently about the world and your place and role in it. That’s affected my life and my creativity, and also the way I think about my schedule and priorities. But music has always been a constant, and still is.

Q: Your recent solo concerts have included your versions of classics by Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder, the Beach Boys, Sade, Bruce Springsteen and Simon & Garfunkel. What is your criteria for selecting songs by other artists?

A: A lot of it is a connection to my life, my story and to the music I’ve loved over the years. So, I want to feel a heart connection with the song, the artist and the songwriting. I’m picking songs that are really well-written, that are great no matter how you arrange or interpret them — but also songs I think I can do something different with than any other versions.

Q: If you were to add you 2008 song, “If You’re Out There,” back to your set list for this tour, would you change a single lyric?

A: I don’t know; I’d have to go back and check it out. I don’t get into the business of changing my lyrics — once the song is out, that’s what it’s mean to be. Every album and song captures a moment in time and I don’t like to do revisionist history. I like to let (a song) exist and have it stand for where I was at that point in my life.

We played “If You’re Out There” at the 2008 Democratic National Convention and Obama was nominated, in a historic way, and that song exists in the world — as it should — as a marker of that.

Q: When we spoke in 2009, you told me: “A lot of things happen in this country because people who weren’t professional politicians cared enough to speak out, and did so. Not just musicians, but community organizers and other people who wanted to make a difference.”

We now live, sadly in an even more polarized time. Are you encouraged, discouraged, or both, by where we are now compared to 14 years ago?

A: Oh, there’s been a lot of discouraging things that have happened. But what I said back then is still very much true now, in that the best way to do the things we need to do — to make our country better and stronger to give people a better life — is if we work together. And it can’t be just politicians. It needs to be community-wide and state-wide. So, a lot of the effort in my philanthropic and political life is to collaborate.

With some other people, there’s been a lot of backlash over the past few years. We went from (the death of) George Floyd to massive protests to a lot of conversations about how we can do better, together, in this country. And then, almost immediately after that, we saw a massive backlash, the so-called “anti-woke” movement, and people like (Florida governor and current Republican presidential candidate) Ron DeSantis.

There’s also been a backlash to the idea of America doing better (with regards to) race and being more equitable. And that backlash has been strong and angering and frustrating. But my belief is that the only way we can combat that backlash is that the voices for justice and equality have to be as fervent, and make as much positive noise, as the backlash.

Q: How would you react if someone asked you why you don’t run for political office?

A: I would say: “Thank you, but I’m very happy being involved in politics and this country’s affair in the way that I am. And I believe I can make a significant impact the way we are doing it, with my FREEAMERICA organization, raising money and helping to elevate great ideas by community organizers.

I can do all that without running for office. And I really enjoy my day job as well!