How John Legend Got His Stage Name (& What It Has To Do With Kanye)

From slow songs like "All of Me," which seems made for the first dance at weddings, to more upbeat songs like "All She Wanna Do," John Legend has established a career that is worth bragging about. The singer, per Okay Player, is the first Black man to achieve EGOT status, meaning he's won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony, all before the age of 40. Legend won his Tony in 2017 for playing the role of Jesus in "Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert."

Legend has spoken about the feat several times, including in an interview with Variety in 2018. "It's hard to beat playing Jesus," he said, adding, "I don't know if it can get any better. We were really proud of what we did, and when you accomplish it as a big group like we were, with the producers, the cast, the crew, everybody, it feels extra special. And for that to be the final thing I needed for the EGOT is even better." We agree EGOT status makes you pretty legit in the industry since it's such a huge accomplishment.

Undoubtedly, his career is legendary, but his last name is actually not Legend.

John Legend may be a legend in the music world, but Legend is not his actual last name, and it's kind of a funny story about how the star got his catchy stage name. During an appearance on "The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon," the singer spoke about how he went from John Stephens to John Legend, which has a much better ring to it if you ask us! He told Fallon, "Well, it was a nickname that some friends started calling me in the studio, just guys that I was collaborating with."

"The first guy to call me that was J. Ivy. He's a spoken word artist from Chicago. I met him through Kanye (West)," he explained. "We were all in the studio together. He just started calling me 'The Legend' because he thought I sounded like one of our old-school soul legends." At first, the legendary nickname stuck with the star and his group of friends, but Ye urged Legend to keep the nickname and even referred to him as "John Legend" on a mixtape, and the name continued to stick. Legend decided to keep the name, and it's safe to say it paid off.

The singer also spoke about his name change in a 2008 interview with MTV News — telling a similar story as he did to Fallon. He said that his goal has always been to live up to the name.

John Legend's wife, Chrissy Teigen, is well aware that her husband goes by a stage name. But that does not mean that she necessarily wants to take his last name, Stephens, and she hasn't been shy about it. The outspoken model has spoken about the topic on several occasions, including in a series of tweets. In the first tweet, Teigen replied to someone who said she didn't understand why women wouldn't take their husbands' last names. "You'll never understand the simple reason of "because I don't want to"? she clapped back. In a second tweet, Teigen added, "my husband didn't even take his last name." 

After the initial two replies to the tweets, Teigen drove her point home with a lengthy tweet explaining her reasoning. "The best part is, I am not anti-taking the last name at all," she wrote on March 22, 2018. "I was going to. just never got around to it and it isn't even the name he goes by. it wasn't some grand statement not to. I just don't see how the choice affects anyone else – why do people care so much!"

While Teigen didn't take his name, the kids all go by the last name of Stephens Per Parade, the couple shares three kids — Luna Stephens, Miles Stephens, and Esti Stephens.