Pop Shop Podcast – Billboard

When we first met John Legend as a solo artist, it was through 2005’s quiet piano ballad Ordinary People — so it only makes sense that almost two decades later, Legend is going back to basics for his next project. LEGEND (Solo Piano Version).

The singer/songwriter took 10 songs from his last album September’s. LEGEND, and stripped them down to new piano versions and added some fresh covers to Friday’s (Feb. 10) release. After years of performing with just a piano, Legend thought the idea made perfect sense.

“Half of my gigs are solo gigs. Even though we did a huge production in Vegas, we did big tours with a nine-piece band all over the world, a lot of my favorite shows are often the ones where it’s just me and a piano,” he tells Katie & Keith in the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast (listen below). “And I think my fans like it because it boils the songs down to their essence and they really hear my voice, the lyrics, the melodies.”

A revelation in creating the album was LEGEND‘s second single “Honey”, originally featuring brand new Grammy winner Muni Long, which Legend decided to stock up on the piano project’s opening track.

“The song I changed the most from the original was ‘Honey,'” he says. “I slowed it down, I slowed it down, and it’s just kind of free and a little bit more jazzy. And I loved shooting that song. It’s very different from the original and it feels really fresh and new.”

The two covers Legend recorded for the album are Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and Sade’s “By My Side,” which he will include on the setlist of his upcoming Valentine’s Day concerts on February 13th and 14th in Los Angeles wants to put ‘ Walt Disney Concert Hall.

“One of my managers loves Sade, and she suggested I try a Sade song,” Legend tells the Pop Shop. “And she even suggested ‘By Your Side,’ along with a few other ideas that she had. And that’s what I just realized, and I just kept humming it in my head and just like, ‘I would feel really good singing this melody and these lyrics.’ And I sat at the piano and started to work it out. And I just loved the feeling it made me. I love Sade anyway, but I find this song in particular really special and beautiful. I love the feeling that goes into it and I really loved performing it.”

Is Legend – who performed as a support act on Sade’s last tour in 2011 – is eagerly awaiting Sade’s first album since 2010 soldier of love like most music fans? “You know she’ll take her time,” he laughs. “I was literally on the last tour. That was 12 years ago!”

While Legend would love to take his piano show to venues other than the Walt Disney Concert Hall, at the moment he’s trying to stay close to home with the birth of his new baby Esti on January 13. “We will do more,” he promised. “It’s going to be sporadic since we had a baby and I’m trying to work a little less. I’ll probably do occasional weekends where we go to different cities and play shows. But it won’t be a steady tour.”

Legend has been very busy in LA for the past week, appearing at the MusiCares Persons of the Year gala honoring Motown founders Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson on Friday night, taking the Grammy Salute to Tuesday night (Feb. 7). the Beach Boys and joined DJ Khaled, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross and Fridayy for a pre-taped Grammys closing performance of their song of the year nominee “God Did”. The Pop Shop spoke to Legend ahead of Sunday’s Grammy Awards as he marveled at Khaled’s unifying power.

“Everyone is so gifted and so powerful as an artist in their own right,” he said. “And that we’re all together – that’s the genius of DJ Khaled. He’s really great at bringing us all together. He’s like the world’s best hip-hop A&R. He’s such a great convener. He brings us all together and makes magic happen.”

Listen to the latest Pop Shop Podcast episode above for the rest of the conversation, including his thoughts on the finale Voice season for Blake Shelton, who “has been the heart and soul of the show for such a long time.”

Also on the show, we have chart news as new songs from The Kid LAROI, Zach Bryan and Maggie Rogers and P!nk all debut on the Billboard Hot 100, while TOMORROW X TOGETHER hits its first No. 1 on Billboard 200 albums chart and both Sam Smith and Lil Yachty bow in the top 10 with their latest releases.

We also talk about last Sunday’s Grammy Awards and this Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime extravaganza where Rihanna will be hosting the show.

The billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one stop shop for all things pop billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion for the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music and guest interviews with music stars and people from the pop world. Casual pop fans and chart junkies alike can listen billboard‘s Executive Digital Director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and billboard‘s Senior Director of Charts Keith Caulfield on the weekly podcast, available to stream on Billboard.com or download from Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)