A-list singer reveals he ‘cut a deal’ with porn producer to keep iconic stage name

A-list singer reveals he ‘cut a deal’ with porn producer to keep iconic stage name Rebecca Sayce Published December 1, 2025 2:07pm Updated December 1, 2025 2:07pm Share this article via whatsappShare this article via xCopy the link to this article.Link is copiedShare this article via facebook Comment now Comments John Legend has opened up on how he adopted his stage name and the legal catch that ensued (Picture: Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for Black Music Action Coalition)

John Legend has not always been known by the famous moniker; instead, he went by his birth name until fighting a porn producer to become a Legend.

The All of Me hitmaker, 46, featured on the first episode of Amazon Studios’ World+Music, discussing his career and how he adopted his stage name.

When his career began, Legend initially went by his birth name, John Roger Stephens, before working on Kanye West’s debut album, The College Dropout, in 2004.

He was discovered by spoken-word artist J. Iby, who was ‘impressed’ by his work on the critically acclaimed album, dubbing him a legend.

‘Now J. heard me singing, playing, and doing all I was doing on those College Dropout tracks, and he was impressed,’ he recalled.

‘He said, “Man, we’re gonna have to call you the legend.”‘

John Legend went by his birth name while working alongside Kanye West in the early 2000s (Picture: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images) He eventually decided to adopt John Legend as his stage name after much deliberation (Picture: MGM+)

Soon after, West and other frequent collaborators were calling him John Legend, so he had to decide whether he was going to assume the stage name.

‘Now part of me is saying, “How you going to call yourself Legend? You don’t even have a record deal yet,”‘ he mused, eventually deciding to go for it.

‘It’s going to make people pay attention, and then I just got to go live up to it,’ he said.

However, there was a catch – a porn producer was already going by the name Johnny Legend, as the musician’s lawyer informed him.

‘Lo and behold, there’s a porn producer—I kid you not—a porn producer who dabbled in rockabilly music, and he went by the name Johnny Legend,’ he said.

‘The fact that he made music, rockabilly music, and his name was Johnny Legend, meant that there was a possible trademark infringement case.

However, porn producer and rockabilly musician Johnny Legend proved a legal issue (Picture: Michael Tullberg/Getty Images) The two had to come to an agreement that they would remain in their respective genres of music and not sue each other over their names (Picture: Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for One Drop Foundation)

‘We had to find Johnny Legend, negotiate with him, cut a mutually exclusive deal stating that he was Johnny Legend, and I was John Legend.

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‘He wouldn’t sue me. I wouldn’t sue him. He wouldn’t try to get into the soul music business pretending to be John Legend. And I’m happy to make clear that I kept my side of the agreement. I didn’t produce any porn, didn’t make any rockabilly music pretending to be Johnny Legend.’

Legend went on to sign with Columbia Records in 2004 as John Legend, and the rest is history.

The musician has won 12 Grammy Awards throughout his career and, for his role in NBC’s adaptation of rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar, he became the first Black male and second youngest recipient of an EGOT – winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award.

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He has also moved into television, working as a vocal coach on The Voice since 2019.

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