John Legend Sings to Newark
By Glenn Townes
Award-winning singer and songwriter John Legend performed to a near-sell-out crowd and a cheering audience on Tuesday evening at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark. The smooth and sultry vocalist offered a rare, deeply personal peek into his life throughout the two-hour performance.
“I’m happy to be back in Newark and love my fans,” he said, before launching into a series of some of his biggest and most popular songs, including “Save Room for My Love,” Ordinary People and “All of Me.
For Legend, the stop in the Brick City is one of more than a dozen cities on his 2026 tour schedule entitled:” An Evening with John Legend—A Night of Songs and Stories. With enhanced photos and images of family photos and videos highlighted in the background, the Emmy, multiple Grammy recipient Oscar and Tony (EGOT) award winning crooner shared stories about his difficult upbringing as a “nerdy” kid named John Stephens in Springfield, Ohio in the 1980’s and 1990’s; financial sturggles, losing his grandmother, who was the matriarch of the large family at a young age; and his own mother falling prey to addiction and mental health issues and being absent from the family for more than a decade.
Giving Back to the Community
Legend’s big break came in 1998, when he played piano on Lauryn Hill’s album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. The album was a massive international success, won multiple awards, and clearly set the wheels of eventual superstardom in motion for the then 20-year-old Legend. He said giving back to the community and paving the way for others to succeed is a key to both his personal and professional success.
A philanthropist with various initiatives focused on criminal justice reform, poverty alleviation, and educational equality, Legend heads the FreeAmerica Initiative, a program that advocates for policy changes in the U.S. criminal justice system. In 2025, Legend was named Philanthropist of the Year by the Hollywood Reporter and the Social Impact Fund.
