TIMELINE (View the key moments in John Legend's life)

John Legend was born John Stephens in Ohio where he grew up before heading to Philadelphia at the age of 16. Throughout his childhood, Legend had mastered playing the piano and played piano on Lauryn Hill's single "Everything Is Everything" while still a teen. Legend went on to finish college, move to New York and work with an array of musicians before releasing his debut LP.

Year: 1978
• Born John Roger Stephens in Community Hospital, Springfield, the second of Ronald and Phyllis Stephens' four children.

Year: 1979
• At eight or nine months, John says his first word: hallelujah, according to mom. His mother is choir director and a soloist at El Bethel Temple, a church on Clifton Avenue. John's uncle now is pastor of the church.

Year: 1983
• At age 4, John begins piano lessons.

Year: 1985
• Home-schooled until age 6, John now attends Springfield Christian School at the First Church of the Naxarene on East Home Road. He would return to home-schooling for grades fourth through sixth.

Year: 1990
• At the age 11, John writes songs, mostly for the church, and joins the Unity for Christ Community Choir. Director Arlin "Par" Tolliver recalls John can play piano and sing at the same time. He'd sing with the choir until he left for collage. John enrolls in the city school district and is put into the eight grade at Schaefer Middle School. Given his age, he should have been in sixth.

Year: 1991-95
• John attends North High School and, as senior class president, graduates second in his class at age 16. At his senior prom, he also wins the title of prom king.

Year: 1995-99
• John attends the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. During collage, he joins the student a cappella group Counterparts and becomes choir director of the Bethel AME Church in Seranton, Pa. After graduation, he bacomes a strategic management consultant and moves to Boston.

Year: 1998
• Thanks to a friend of Lauryn Hill (Tara Michel, who is now JL's backup singer), John makes his major recording debut, playing piano on "Everything Is Everything", a track from "The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill".

Year: 2000
• Apparently not content with work in the business world, and not wanting to go to grad school, John focuses on music, playing shows from Boston to Atlanta. He often shares a bill with the likes of Musiq and Floetry. He also releases his first independent CD, "John Stephens".

Year: 2001
• John puts out another indie release, "Live At Jimmy's Uptown". Through his live shows and Web site, he manages to sell several thousand copies of his two CDs.

Year: 2002
• John begins work with Kanye West, whom he met through his collage roommate and musical collaborator, Devo Harris (West's cousin). John plays piano and sings on the sessions for West's debut album, "The Collage Dropout" later released in 2004.

Year: 2003
• John, in his production work with the soughtafter West, sings or plays on sessions for Alicia Keys, Jay-Z, Janet Jackson, The Black Eyed Peas and rapper Twista. He continues to make his own music, playing clubs and releasing "Solo Sessions Vol. 1" Live At The Knitting Factory" and "Live At SOB's". John is the first artist to be signed to West's production company, KonMan Entertainment. The more leads to a deal with with Columbia Records.

Year: 2004
• John is a featured performer on West's School Spirit tour. As John Legend, he submits his resignation as Bethel AME's choir director, a post he's held all this time.
• December 28, 2004: John's first major label debut album "Get Lifted" is released on his 26th birthday. It spends the first nine weeknd in Billboard's Top 10 and eventually certifies platinum after it sells more than 2 million copies.

Year: 2005
• January: JL topped the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart with Get Lifted.
• February: John begins touring with Alicia Keys, opening with positive reviews. He also sings "I'll Take You There" with Mavis Staples at the Grammy Awards.
• February: Get Lifted was certified platinum.
• March: Legend hit the Top 40 with "Ordinary People."
• June: People magazine names John one its hottest bachelors. Legend jokes, "Yes, that's my crowning achievement. It's good to know that women, you know, think of me as an ideal candidate for husband. I meet a lot of women. It seems like they're a lot more interested in me than they used to be.
• July 26: While out on his first solo tour, John comes home to open the newly renovated Veterans Park to a record crowd of an estimated 20,000 people.
• August: Legend was nominated for 3 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Male Video, Best New Artist, and Best R&B Video ("Ordinary People").
• September: Legend could be heard on the compilation LP So Amazing... An All-Star Tribute To Luther Vandross with "Love Won't Let Me Wait."
• October: The single "Ordinary People" was certified gold.
• October 30: John comes home ro show his support for a Springfield City School levy that went on to fail at the polls. John tells the crowd: "This is a no-brainer. It's mandatory that we invest in our students. Even if you don't have kids in the schools, the schools help define what this community is going to be.
• November: Legend was nominated for an American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist.
• December 8: John is nominated for eight Grammys including: Song Of The Year for "Ordinary People", Best New Artist, Best Male R&B Vocal Perfomance for "Ordinary People", Best R&B Performnace By A Duo Or Group With Vocal for "So High" with Lauryn Hill, Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for "Stay With U", Best R&B Song for "Ordinary People", Best R&B Album for Get Lifted and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "They Say" with Common and Kanye West.

Year: 2006
• February: Legend won 3 Grammy Awards for Best New Artist, Best R&B Album (Get Lifted), and Best R&B Vocal Performance - Male ("Ordinary People"), and was nominated for Song of the Year (awarded to the songwriter), Best R&B Song (awarded to the songwriter) ("Ordinary People"), Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance ("Stay With You"), Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group ("So High" with Lauryn Hill), and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ("They Say" with Common and Kanye West). Legend also performed at the ceremony. Legend could be heard on Sergio Mendes' Timeless.
• March: Legend won 2 Soul Train Music Awards for Best Album, Male (Get Lifted) and Best Single, Male ("Ordinary People").
• September: Legend could be heard on Tony Bennett's LP Duets: American Classic on the track "Sing, You Sinners."
• October 24: Legend released Once Again.
• November: JL topped the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums with Once Again.
• November: Legend could be heard on Jay-Z's LP Kingdom Come on the track "Do U Wanna Ride."
• December: Once Again was certified platinum.

Year: 2007
• February: Legend won 2 Grammy Awards for Best R&B Vocal Performance - Male ("Heaven") and Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group ("Family Affair" with Sly & The Family Stone, Joss Stone and Van Hunt) from the LP Different Strokes By Different Folks), and was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Performance - Male ("Save Room"). Legend performed at the ceremony.
• July: On July 7th, Legend performed at the Live Earth concert in the UK. The 7-continent concert organized by Al Gore brought together over 100 artists to perform and raise the world's awareness about the climate crisis and how to make a difference to help the environment and the world.
• October: John performs in Snowmass Village at the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Festival and announces that he's launching his own record label "HomeSchool" Records" with Estelle as his first artist. John also headed on a brief East Coast tour of the United States to introduce Estelle. On October 28, John performs in Independence Square in Ghana.
• November: Legend could be heard on the Aretha Franklin LP Jewels In The Crown: Duets With The Queen Of Soul on the track "What Y'All Came To Do."
• December: John performs "As Time Goes By" with singer Mary J. Blige at "Movies Rock" at the Kodak theatre in Hollywood, California.

Year: 2008
• January: Legend performs on the eighth annual Celebration of Gospel. He can also be seen in Consequence's video for "Feel This Way". JL attends and performs twice at Sundance Film Festival.
• February: John appeared in the star-studded song version, produced by the Black Eyed Peas' Will.i.am, of Barack Obama's post-South Carolina primary victory speech. He also performed at the Grammy Awards along with Fergie.
• September: Legend could be heard on the T.I. LP Paper Trail on the track "Slide Show."
• October: Legend released Evolver.

Some of these facts taken from SpringfieldNewsSun.com