April 08, (THEWILL) – American singer, John Roger Stephens, professionally known as John Legend, has revealed the hurdle he had to cross before being able to retain his stage name.
The singer stated that prior to adopting his stage name, he had to clear negotiations with a porn producer, who went by a similar name, Johnny Legend.
Legend made this known in an episode of ‘The Jonathan Ross Show’.
According to him, the “Legend” title started with a friend, but Ye, who was formerly known as Kanye West, blew the name up when he put it on one of his recordings.
After Ye’s song, he decided to continue with the name but there was an obstacle, another entertainer had a name similar to his.
“I’ve never met him before. I and my manager had to clear the trademark. He reached out and negotiated a deal
“I will always be John Legend and he’d always be Johnny Legend and we’d never cross.”
In 2008, the music act told MTV that he never would have chosen his stage name himself but eventually, people started calling him by the moniker, which was part of the reason he decided to go by the name.
