John Legend Recalls Meeting Lauryn Hill on ‘Fallon’

John Legend is marking the 20th anniversary of his debut album Get Lifted and recently appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to reflect on his journey.

During the interview, Legend reminisced about one of his earliest experiences in the music industry—meeting Lauryn Hill and earning his first-ever recording credit on her groundbreaking album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

“So the first time I met Lauryn Hill, I was still a student at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, so I was going to school there, and I used to play at this church up in Scranton. So Scranton’s a couple hours north of Philly, and I would drive up there every weekend. And one of my choir members’ name was Tara Michel, and she went to high school with Lauryn Hill,” Legend recalled.

“And The Score had already been a huge success for the Fugees and ‘Killing Me Softly.’ And everybody was wondering when Lauryn’s going to go solo. And she was working on her solo album, and Tara was like, ‘Johnny, come to Jersey with me, and we’re going to meet Lauryn Hill. She’s working on her solo album.’ And so they’re working on the album, and I get on the piano just to show her what I could do.”

“It was like a mini audition,” Legend continued. “I was nervous, but, you know, I did my thing. I sang a little Stevie Wonder, sang an original song, too, and then she was like, ‘Why don’t you play piano on this song I’m working on now?’ And it was ‘Everything Is Everything’ from The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.”

Legend reflected on the significance of the moment, noting, “That was my first credit on any album. And it was, you know, one of the greatest albums of all time.”

At the time, Legend was still credited under his birth name, John R. Stephens. “I didn’t know if the song was going to make the album. I didn’t know if my parts were going to make the album. And so I was just waiting to find out, and I get a call from A&R at Columbia Records, which is where Lauryn signed, and they asked me how to spell my name for the album credits,” he said.

“I was like, ‘Oh, okay, you want to know how to spell my name?’ So I was like… John R. Stephens. John R. Stephens—S-T-E-P-H-E-N-S. And I was like, in retrospect, that was not a great stage name to, like, put on the album credits.”

Reflecting on his current stage name, he added, “John Legend’s a lot better. I didn’t become John Legend for a while. But I was John R. Stephens on Track 13 of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.”

Beyond reminiscing about his past, Legend looked ahead to the future, announcing his Get Lifted 20th Anniversary World Tour, which is set to kick off on May 27 in Glasgow, U.K.

The tour will cover more than 40 cities across the U.K., Europe, and North America, including stops at The O2 in London, Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam, Accor Arena in Paris, Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, and Barclays Center in New York, before wrapping up on December 9 in Oakland, California.

To commemorate the anniversary, Legend also revealed plans for a deluxe edition of Get Lifted, which will include remixes and unreleased tracks from the era. The album, originally released in 2004, featured hits like “Ordinary People,” “Used to Love U,” and “So High,” and helped establish Legend as a major force in R&B and soul music.