Name:		Mr. John Stephens (aka John Legend)
		Month:		April 2005
		Schools:		U of Pennsylvania, BA in English, 1999
		Organization:		John Legend Music, Inc
		Title:		Singer/Songwriter/Producer/Pianist

John is a 26-year-old native of Springfield, Ohio. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania in 1999, with a degree in English, concentrating in African-American Literature and Culture.

Upon graduation, John spent 3 years as an Associate at the Boston Consulting Group, working in the Boston and New York offices. He then went on to direct the Career Planning & Job Placement Program at Management Leadership for Tomorrow, a program whose aim is to prepare minority college students for careers in business (www.ML4T.org).

In his spare time, John was building his career as a musician. He built his career as a solo performer in clubs along the East Coast and as a session musician and co-writer with such artists as Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Jay-Z, Slum Village, Janet Jackson, Lauryn Hill, Dilated Peoples, Common, Talib Kweli, and many more.

In May 2004, John was signed to Columbia/Sony Records via Kanye West's label Getting Out Our Dreams (GOOD Music). Upon his signing, John quickly put together his debut album, Get Lifted.

The album, released on Dec 28, 2004, has been in the top 10 on the Billboard album charts for 11 out of the 12 weeks since its debut. It has sold over a million copies worldwide and garnered rave reviews from nearly every major publication, receiving 5 out of 5 stars in Vibe, 4 out 5 stars in Rolling Stone, A- in Entertainment Weekly, 3 1/2 out 4 stars in People and 3 1/2 out of 4 stars in USA Today. He has been nominated for Best New Artist by both the Soul Train Awards and the NAACP Image Awards. He also had the honor of performing at the 2005 Grammys with Kanye West, Mavis Staples and the Blind Boys of Alabama.

He is currently on tour opening for Alicia Keys across the country, and he will headline his own tour in the US, Japan, Australia, and Europe this summer.