Singer-songwriter John Legend, who staged two concerts in India last weekend, is now immune to the vagaries of chart success

The shows also featured Indian-American rapper Raja Kumari; the secret to Legend’s longevity could be his fondness for collaboration

India has witnessed performances by several Grammy winners but singer-songwriter John Legend is the first EGOT to have played our shores. An EGOT, as you may or may not know, is a term that refers to the small list of individuals who have won Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards.

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Legend, 44, staged two concerts, in Mumbai and New Delhi, last weekend. The shows, which also featured Indian-American rapper Raja Kumari, were organised by Walkers & Co., an initiative by alco-bev maker Diageo. Earlier this year, Kumari and Legend released ‘Keep Walking’, an anthem for Walkers & Co., which they performed live for the first time at the event.

Their pairing seems like an unusual combination, but signing up for a gig like this is par for the course for Legend. The R&B star, blessed with a singing voice that can make the phonebook sound good, fits seamlessly into almost any configuration, and has duetted with pop, hip-hop, jazz, EDM and even country artists.

It’s fair to say that Legend, who was a coach on reality TV singing competition  The Voice from 2019 to 2022, is now one of those acts you see pretty much all the time. Consequently, he’s become the kind of artist who everybody has heard of, even if they’ve never heard any of his music. In other words, he’s become immune to the vagaries of chart success.

Legend’s last Top 40 as a lead artist was back in 2016. Yet he’s never been out of the public eye. Over just the last six months, in addition to his stint on  The Voice, he released the autobiographical audiobook  Living Legend on Audible; put out a series of songwriting lessons for online learning platform Masterclass, and completed a six-month run of live dates in Las Vegas.

Ever since he picked up his first of his 12 Grammys, for Best New Artist in 2006, he has been a regular performer — and winner — at award ceremonies. He won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for ‘Glory’ from  Selma in 2015