John Legend stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to promote his new album, LEGEND, which is out now.
During his visit, the Grammy-winner performed his groovy tune “All She Wanna Do.”
Legend, dressed in a black Dries Van Noten shirt and ivory Gucci pants, delivered an electrifying performance of the blissful tune, with support from a crew of dancers, background singers and a live band.
Ahead of his performance, Legend sat down with Fallon to talk about everything from his love for chicken and pancakes to running for student body president in high school, and of course his new album.
As mentioned above, “All She Wanna Do” appears on Legend’s eighth LP, which is a double album. There are two versions of “All She Wanna Do,” including one featuring Saweetie and the other with Legend as the lone artist.
The Saweetie-assisted version was released ahead of the album, as well as a vibrant video directed by Christian Breslauer.
Additional features on the 24-track album include Jazmine Sullivan, Muni Long, Ledisi, Jhené Aiko, Ty Dolla $ign, Rick Ross, Rapsody, Free Nationals, Amber Mark and Jada Kingdom.
In a lengthy Instagram post, the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner explained the inspiration behind his new album.
“LEGEND is a double album that began its journey in early 2021. We were spending a lot of time with our closest loved ones, grieving the ones we lost, but also looking forward to a brighter time when we could better protect ourselves from the virus that disrupted all of our lives. We were ready to go back outside! Ready to celebrate again. And I was ready to make music,” he wrote.
Legend added, “LEGEND is full of sensuality, joy and celebration. But our lives are more complex than that. My family and I have also been challenged by loss and grief and pain. I wanted to make space on this album to be vulnerable, spiritual and reflective. I needed this music to help me heal, and to hopefully help others heal.”
Legend also revealed why he titled his album after his name.
“Until this point, I’ve never used an aspect of my name as the title of an album. I had to earn that, to live up to it by delivering in the performance and the music. And this is me saying, I’m proud of who I am, I’m confident in the work I’ve done, and I’m just going to declare it,” he explained.
LEGEND is his first album on Republic Records. He announced his signing to the label in November 2021.
“I am excited to partner with Republic Records in this next chapter of my career,” Legend said. “Everyone at the label has been so wonderful to work with. I am thrilled to take this new artistic and creative journey with them and look forward to sharing new music with people soon.”
“There’s just no one like John Legend,” said Republic’s President of West Coast Creative Wendy Goldstein. “He’s the consummate 21st century superstar whose impact across culture and the world at large only continues to expand. We’re so honored to join forces with him as he launches this next era with some of his most powerful music yet.”
On Oct. 14, Legend will return to Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino for his Love In Las Vegas residency. He will play eight shows through Oct. 29.
Watch John Legend perform “All She Wanna Do” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon below.