John Legend has confessed that obtaining his pseudonym was not easy and required a contract with an adult entertainment industry producer.
The 44-year-old Ordinary People singer’s original name is John Stephens, but he later chose the surname ‘Legend’ after a friend began referring to him as such at the outset of his career.
The new term gained steam and attention after Gold Digga rapper and Yeezy founder Kanye West, 45, who was recently removed from Forbes’ Billionaire list, used it on one of his recordings.
However, in an upcoming interview on The Jonathan Ross Show, John, who is married to Chrissy Teigen, revealed that the process of obtaining the name was a bit of a hassle.
‘When I was considering whether to go out as John Legend or John Stephens [I thought, Legend] it’ll make a statement before I even turn up,’ claimed the All of Me hitmaker.
‘Then I found out someone is called Johnny Legend – he was also a porn producer.’
John continued: ‘I’ve never met him before. My manager, we had to clear the trademark.
‘He reached out and negotiated a deal. I would always be John Legend and he’d always be Johnny Legend and we’d never cross.’
Later this year, John will also mark his tenth wedding anniversary with model and cookbook author Chrissy, 37, as well as the tenth anniversary of the release of his smash ballad All Of Me, which he dedicated to his wife.
When asked how they planned to commemorate the event, he said, ‘We’re going back to where it all started, Lake Como.’
The EGOT winner earlier stated that the Italian lakeside resort was where they spent one of their first vacations together.
They later married in Lake Como, and his wife appears in the All Of Me song video, which finishes with images from their wedding day.
Esti was born earlier this year to the couple, who also have a four-year-old boy, Miles, and a six-year-old daughter, Luna.
When Chrissy became pregnant, John’s other children were first ‘jealous,’ but are now supportive siblings.
‘Since she’s come out, they’ve been so good, competing to see who will be the best older sibling’, he added.
Chrissy previously said that she had a miscarriage with the couple’s third child, Jack, in September 2020, before falling pregnant again last summer.
The Jonathan Ross Show airs on Saturday at 9.50pm on ITV1 and ITVX.