Desert Island Discs

Original version

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

Discussion & Talk

Podcasts

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Factual: Life Stories

Castaway guests share the soundtrack of their lives.

Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives.

BBC Radio 4 LW

Desert Island Discs: John Legend, musician

John Legend, musician

BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, John Legend, musician

John Legend, musician, shares the soundtrack of his life with Lauren Laverne.

John Legend, singer and songwriter, shares the eight discs, book and luxury item he would want with him if cast away on a desert island. With Lauren Laverne.

The American singer and songwriter John Legend has won two Emmys, 12 Grammys, an Oscar and a Tony award – making him one of only 16 living artists to have won all four honours. One of his songs, All of Me, written for his wife, the model Chrissy Teigen, has been streamed more than four billion times on digital platforms. 

He was born John Stephens in Springfield, Ohio into a musical family. His father played drums in church, where his mother conducted the choir. John took piano lessons from an early age and soon became involved in arranging music for the church.

He attended university at the age of 16 and after graduating worked as a management consultant for four years, while pursuing his interest in music out of office hours. He signed his first record deal after working with Kanye West early in his career, and took on the stage name John Legend, releasing his first solo album in 2004. 

Alongside his musical career, he has acted on TV and film, including a role in the highly successful La La Land. He has performed at three Presidential inauguration ceremonies – for President Obama in 2009 and 2013, and for President Biden in 2021.  

John lives in the USA with his wife and their two children.

DISC ONE: Here Comes the Sun by Nina Simone
DISC TWO: They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.) by Pete Rock & CL Smooth  
DISC THREE: Day Dreaming by Aretha Franklin  
DISC FOUR: Roc Boys (And the Winner is…) by Jay-Z  
DISC FIVE: As by Stevie Wonder  
DISC SIX: Love on Top by Beyonce
DISC SEVEN: L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole 
DISC EIGHT: Superfly by Curtis Mayfield  

BOOK CHOICE: The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber & David Wengrow 
LUXURY ITEM: A piano   
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Here Comes the Sun by Nina Simone   

Presenter  Lauren Laverne
Producer  Sarah Taylor

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Desert Island Discs

John Legend, musician

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4