NEW JOHN LEGEND ALBUM
Cinematic soul and an unexpected turnaround With the release of Muse, his new studio album, on 23 rd October, this EGOT status holder is bringing a completely unexpected sound by rejecting his tried and tested formula of piano ballads in favour of a sumptuous fusion of African-American sound A fter a career spanning more than 20 years that has been marked by ballads em- braced by audiences around the world, John Legend felt the need to make a radical change. The re- sult of that bold creative quest is the album Muse, which is set for release on 23 rd Octo- ber. “I think my repertoire has always been very diverse, but the piano-driven ballads have gotten the most traction throughout my career. I wanted to shake up the formu- la and do something fresh and new,” says an honest Legend. Despite a friendship spanning more than two decades, this is the first joint pro- ject between Legend and fellow musician Pharrell Williams, who is also a philanthro- pist and the current creative director of men's fashion at Louis Vuitton. The idea for the album emerged following Legend’s guest appearance on the Clipse comeback album Let God Sort 'Em Out. His vocals on the Pharrell-produced track The Birds Don't Sing were enough to prompt the produc- er to build an entire studio album around his recognisable voice. The two artists met up in Paris in Jan- uary 2025, where they worked in Phar- rell’s studio at the headquarters of Louis Vuitton. Inspired by the musical legacy of greats like Nina Simone, Nat King Cole and Marvin Gaye, they have created a sound that exudes classics, but with a contem-
porary rhythm.
the language of gangster confrontations to a toxic love relationship. In addition to his musical triumph with this new album, Legend continues to push his own artistic boundaries. He is currently working on a new musical en- titled Imitation of Life, which will be per- formed on the stage of famous New York venue The Shed in November. With a li- bretto by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, and directed by two-time Tony Award nominee Whitney White, this production represents Legend’s first orig- inal score for the stage. For those who don’t know, it should perhaps be noted that Legend was born John Roger Stephens and that he is one of the few artists in history to have achieved the so-called EGOT status – having won all four of the most prestigious American awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. His rise began with his 2004 debut album Get Lifted, which featured the timeless hit Ordinary People and earned him his first major breakthrough and a Grammy Award. However, he cemented his global dom- inance and the status of an icon of pop and R&B music with the 2013 emotional pi- ano ballad All of Me. Dedicated to his wife, model Chrissy Teigen, All of Me has become one of the best-selling digital songs of all time and a must-have anthem at weddings around the world. The standouts among the songs that have defined his career in- clude the seductive Green Light, the pow- erful Save Room, as well as the monumen- tal track Glory, which earned him the 2015 Oscar for Best Original Song.
“Pharrell’s idea from the beginning was that we would create something with all of these classic, cinematic elements, this Black James Bond aesthetic, but with a modern backbeat at its foundation. You can hear traces of me and traces of him, but it sounds like something new for the both of us.“ This new era was heralded with the release of the single Daylight, which pre- miered in Nashville to mark the start of the NFL season. However, the first real indica- tion of the project’s signature style arrived on the catwalk in Paris with the energet- ic, gospel-tinged track Pray For Ya, which served as the soundtrack to Louis Vuitton’s Autumn/Winter 2026 menswear show, and subsequently Pharrell's June campaign for the Moët brand. The musical breadth can already be felt clearly in the title track Muse, which opens the album and follows a turbulent relationship from lust to betrayal in the world of Parisian high art. According to Legend, the title is a direct tribute to both the Greek goddesses of art and ancestors: “Our ancestors are our muses. My music has always been me channeling the ances- tors, taking what they gave us and mak- ing something new.“ The rest of the album moves master- fully through genres – from gentle doo- wop and gospel in the nostalgic Her, via the track Get Back that features Pharrell, to raw sarcasm in the song Are You OK?. The standout track Bodies on the Floor, featuring Clipse, metaphorically transfers
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