When John Legend released his debut studio album “Get Lifted” during the last week of December of 2004, he did the impossible. With singles like “Used to Love U” and the pop-crossover ballad “Ordinary People,” Legend managed to loosen the grip Usher had on the male R&B lane — a reign that stretched from the last three years of the 20th century to the first four years of the 21st century.
And Legend had the nerve to do so from behind a piano.
“Get Lifted” wasn’t just a debut. It was a declaration — that Legend wasn’t simply releasing music, but building a legacy.
Twenty years later, that legacy speaks for itself. Twenty years later, that legacy speaks for itself. In 2018, he became the second-youngest artist in history to achieve EGOT status. Now, he’s returning to where it all began with the “Get Lifted” 20th Anniversary Tour, which stops at The Factory on Monday, November 17.
“I love playing in St. Louis,” Legend said. “I’m especially excited to bring this particular tour to St. Louis. St. Louis and a few other Midwestern cities (Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee) were some of the areas where I found the most love and excitement for my debut album, ‘Get Lifted.’ I’m so ready to celebrate 20 years of ‘Get Lifted’ there!”
An Ohio native living in New York City, the album grew out of him writing songs that spoke to his experience.
“I was a young bachelor in my 20s,” Legend recalls. “I sang about love and loss, infidelity, reconciliation, commitment—everything in between.”
His musical inspirations were just as layered: Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Kanye West, Lauryn Hill. That last name holds special weight. It was on her iconic debut solo studio album that Legend earned one of his first major label writing credits.
“I was still young and shy and not sure of what mark I could leave on this industry,” Legend said. “I’m so glad I had the courage to sit at that piano and show her what I could do. That one opportunity led to others and gave me the confidence to create my own body of work as an artist. But it also made me a part of history, as a small contributor to one of the greatest albums of all time.”
Last week he experienced a full circle moment when Hill joined him on stage for the tour’s Brooklyn stop.
“We’d never performed on stage together before,” Legend said. “It was incredible to have her grace our tour with her surprise appearance. I was on cloud 9 and the crowd was too.”
Legend’s body of work now spans decades, genres, and platforms. But “Get Lifted” remains foundational. “The songs were basically the demos I played for labels, hoping they would sign me,” he says. “For years, I tried and failed to break through. But eventually, I was signed to Columbia Records in May 2004. Once I was signed, we re-recorded the songs in major studios in New York and LA.”
The album’s breakout single, “Ordinary People,” remains his favorite of all the songs he’s written. “That song changed my life,” Legend says. “It will always be a quintessential part of my catalog.”
Two decades later, Legend is revisiting “Get Lifted” in full—on stage and in the studio. The deluxe remix LP features reimagined versions of the original tracks and new verses from artists he admires. “It was cool to give the music a new treatment.”
Beyond music, Legend’s creative reach has expanded into film, television, and publishing through Get Lifted Film Co. and Get Lifted Books. “Turn Me Loose,” a one-man show about St. Louis-born activist Dick Gregory, was one of his standout projects. “Joe Morton is incredibly gifted, and making ‘Turn Me Loose’ was so cool,” Legend says. “I got to spend time with Mr. Gregory and his family. What a life!”
The same could be said for Legend, who has been politically engaged and committed to social justice since the beginning of his career.
“I always believed that was part of what it meant to be an artist,” Legend said. “I don’t want to waste my privilege and my platform. I have the opportunity to make the world better and I’m going to continue to use it.”
When he takes the stage Monday night, St. Louis audiences can expect their own full-circle experience.
“We do the entire ‘Get Lifted’ album plus some of my greatest hits,” Legend said. “We also play some of the songs from the pre-‘Get Lifted’ era that inspired me, and I tell some of the stories from that time leading up to my debut.”
Legend said the tour is a trip down memory lane, back to his first couple of tours.
“My day one fans are especially loving the nostalgia of it all,” Legend said. “And I’m loving this tour so much.”
Living It content is produced with funding by the ARPA for the Arts grants program in partnership with the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis and the Community Development Administration.
Congratulations great work loved the album so much 💜