I Am John Legend. Ask Me Anything.

What do you think of the film "I Am Legend?"

Did you think Will Smith's portrayal of you was accurate?

Haha, I loved that movie! And the title!

Hey john, what would you say is the first song you ever wrote for Chrissy? And what inspired it?

"Good Morning." morning sex inspired it.

Hello John Legend! (Feels weird calling you just 'John'.) Out of all the artists you worked with, who's your favorite and why? Any secrets you can spill?

Of all the artists I've worked with, Kanye has been the most influential and important one. We've worked together since 2002 and he's helped my career in so many ways.

Hi! How much weight have you gained from Chrissy's cooking? Be honest!

I'm back to normal now. She's done testing her recipes and has moved on to the writing / photography phase of the book. I gained about 5 pounds during the recipe testing phase. And it was delicious!

Hi John, the Wife and I love your music.

How does Chrissy react when you first sing your songs to her?

Does she get all emotional or is she just like "Meh"

It depends on the song! When she loves it, she can get emotional. When she doesn't love it, she's not afraid to be real with me.

On a scale from 1-10 (1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest), how good are Chrissy's meals?

11!

typically when someone like gibson or fender endorse a musician, the musician can get a signature guitar made -- what options did stella artois offer in that department?

Stella Artois will give me all the beer I need. :)

Hi, John! Thanks for doing this AMA. Which of your songs are most meaningful to you, and which are your favorite to perform?

All of Me is the answer to both, I guess. But it's hard to choose.

When you say "I don't wanna brag," are you bragging and trying to deny it? By the way, I saw you perform in Vegas recently and you were amazing!

Absolutely!

How well can you speak Thai given how close you are with Chrissy and her mom?

I know how to say hello and thank you. That's all for now! Chrissy and her mother don't speak Thai at the house, but Pepper does speak it when we go to ThaiTown in LA

How do you feel about Gay marriage being allowed?

I am so happy that the US has marriage equality now! Marriage isn't for everyone, but I love being married, and I can't imagine a law existing that told me I couldn't marry the person I love. For too long, LGBTQ members of our society have been told they were second-class citizens. They deserve full citizenship and all the rights that come with it.

What inspired you to take up music as a career?

I grew up in a family that loved music. I was surrounded by music in church and at home, and I loved it from a very young age. I started taking piano lessons at 4. I started singing in the church choir and school musicals at 6 or 7. As a kid, when I would watch Star Search and the Grammys, I would envision myself on those stages winning awards. I always wanted to be here.

How do you and Chrissy stay so fit while she cooks all that delicious food?

We both workout most mornings, which helps some. But we actually eat pretty moderately most of the time. Chrissy's instagram looks so decadent and fattening, but we know we can't go crazy every day. Most days, we eat low-sugar/low-carb diets and try to keep our portion size to a reasonable level.

Hey John! Huge fan.

Would you ever accept money to sing at a strangers wedding? If so how much.

And how was it working with Mstrkrft?

Yes, I do weddings for strangers occasionally. You'll have to call WME for pricing. :)

I loved working with MSTRKRFT! I love that song!

Whats up John? What is your favorite Kanye West song?

So many favorites. He's one of my favorite artists of all time. "Flashing Lights" is one of my favorites, but there are many more.

Hi John! I saw you live in Pittsburgh on Father's Day last year. During "All of Me" someone proposed during your show (she said yes). Does that happen often?

All the time! Especially since All of Me.

I just finished reading Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, a book all about how artists, scientists, entrepreneurs, musicians, and others work. I absolutely loved it and wished it had included even more people.

What is your routine? Do you have any daily rituals? What do you do when you first get up in the morning?

I have a certain routine for life on tour and a certain routine for life at home when I'm working on my next album. On tour, I'm focused on resting my voice and staying physically prepared to give a great show every night. I don't talk much during the day. I don't drink alcohol on tour. I drink lots of water. I work out in the morning. I make sure I take a nap before the show.... When I'm writing the album, I like to schedule writing sessions rather than just hope inspiration randomly comes to me. I like to schedule my creativity so that I'm more proactive about searching for inspiration. It makes me more productive and prolific. Every song won't be great, but I create 50-80 songs every album, in the hopes that a significant portion will be great.

Hey John, huge, huge fan.

On your first album, you had a couple of songs that more or less justified cheating (off the top of my head, "She Don't Have to Know" and "Number One"). Have those songs ever come back to bite you in the ass?? And how do you reconcile those tracks with the rest of your discography, which often focuses on romance or altruism?

Well not exactly. But suffice to say I'm not writing She Don't Have to Know right now if I want to sleep in my bed, haha. Every album is a snapshot of who you are at the time. As I have grown and my life circumstances and outlook have changed, so have my lyrics.

What is your favorite part of performing live?

I love feeling the energy of the crowd. I love when things come to a crescendo and you feel the emotion and the power of the music. It can be very inspiring

How many Ohio State football games do you attend each year?

I don't like going to live football games. I LOVE watching on TV. It's a much better experience. I'll sound like a brat right now, but when I was in a box seat at the Super Bowl, I would have been much happier watching at home on my flat screen so I could see all the angles and hear the commentary.

Who is your favorite singer?

My favorites and biggest influences: Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin, Jeff Buckley, Nat King Cole

Do you ever listen to your own music while having sex?

No. I rarely listen to my own music at all once an album is done. I listen to it extensively as we're in the song selection / editing / mixing phase, but, once it's done, it's done.

What's your biggest passion that the public doesn't know about?

I love Google Maps haha

The chicken sounds legendary...i tried, which is your favorite country to perform?

I love playing all over the world. But I would say South Africa has consistently been my favorite country over the years. The energy and love that I feel there is just on another level.

How much preparation did your appearance on Lip Sync Battles take?

I hung around backstage for the taping of a few episodes so I understood the format pretty well. It took me a while to decide which songs I wanted to do, but I definitely wanted it to be something out of character and unexpected. Once I picked the songs, we rehearsed the day of the show for a couple hours and that was about it. I had so much fun performing on the show. And I still think I was robbed!

You're an amazing and talented musician/singer/songwriter, but what we really want to know is....

what is your favorite dish that Chrissy prepares for you and how often do you two eat in towels? I assume you're both just messy eaters...

We'll all be patiently waiting for your response.

Chrissy's prosciutto wrapped boursin-stuffed chicken is amazing. Her veal osso buco is amazing. So many great dishes. I'm so excited for y'all to get the cookbook. I'm a messier eater than Chrissy. But we both live a lot of our home life in towels or robes.

Hey John! Thank you for this. Which do you prefer: Singing or playing piano?

I prefer singing and songwriting about equally (with maybe a slight edge to singing), then playing the piano.

Hey John!

What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?

I love chocolate peanut butter in just about any dessert or candy, esp ice cream! I love talenti coconut ice cream so much too.

Hey John,

I loved All of Me. The video was especially moving, particularly as a survivor. Seeing the beautiful woman with the mastectomy scars was both heartbreaking as a reminder of my own scars and extraordinarily liberating. What was the inspiration behind the video?

You're talking about the "You & I" video. Thanks so much. When we shot the video, we wanted to examine the idea of what people see when they look in the mirror. We wanted to show all types of beauty and speak to the idea that each of them is special and beautiful.

Hi John, HUUUUUGE fan of yours! I have many favorites in your discography because so much of your music is touching and true. My question is, how do you stay inspired to constantly create amazing work?

I LOVE music. I LOVE writing music. I love the challenge of creating something new and special. There's still so much I want to do and accomplish. It's not hard to stay motivated and inspired.

John, what's your favorite line from any song you've written? Here's my favorite lyric from you. I love it so much, I got it tattoed on me. http://imgur.com/Rq9qITa

I don't know if I have a favorite line. Some of my favorite songs lyrically are "Again" / "Another Again" and "Maxine". Those are all from Once Again. Maybe I was in a great place lyrically then?

Hi John! I'm a Springfield resident and we love you here!

Was it hard to rise above other musicians from large cities who could have more connections in the industry?

I think you eventually have to move to or spend a lot of time in large cities with a significant music industry presence if you want to meet and collaborate with the right people to advance your career. I lived in Springfield for the first 16 years of my life, then went to school in Philadelphia for 4 years. Philadelphia was a great place to meet other musicians, especially during the late 90's when so much was happening there in soul/neo-soul/hip hop at the time. I lived in New York starting in 2000 and, of course, there was a vibrant music community there, in addition to a lot of record label execs being headquartered there. That was important for me as I was trying to get my music heard

Hey John!! I was at your Melbourne performance in your All of Me tour, you were absolutely fantastic!! My question for you is, how do you rearrange your music for your lives? I love how they were presented so differently to their original songs. Thanks for doing an AMA!

The All of Me Tour was special in that we stripped down a lot of the arrangements. Every tour, we try to re-approach the songs to keep things interesting. We don't want them to be un-recognizable from the album version, but I do believe that live versions should be special and fresh.

Hi John! If you had to put yourself in the BCG matrix, would you be a cash cow?

Man, I forget the other quadrants of the matrix, but cash cow sounds about right at the moment.