John Legend on Ancestry, Identity, and Raising a Family with Chrissy Teigen

In this standout episode of Identified, Nabil Ayers sits down with EGOT-winning artist, activist, and cultural icon John Legend to talk about family, race, ancestry, and the stories that shape who we are.

John opens up about growing up in a tightly knit Black church community in Ohio, being surrounded by music, and taking piano lessons from age four—learning gospel by ear from his grandmother and classical from a local teacher. But behind the harmony was hardship. He shares how the early loss of his grandmother led to his mother’s decade-long absence and how that trauma shaped his sense of home, responsibility, and resilience.

The conversation traces his family lineage, including revelations from his appearance on Finding Your Roots—stories of enslaved ancestors, a great-grandmother who could have passed for white, and a landmark court case in Ohio that secured his family’s freedom generations ago. It’s a deeply personal look at the complexities of Black American identity.

John also talks about raising four children with his wife, Chrissy Teigen, and what it means to parent a multicultural, multiracial family in the spotlight. From Thai temples to Black church traditions, he reflects on how he and Chrissy are teaching their children to embrace their mixed heritage and proudly identify as Black, Asian, and Blasian.

This is an episode about legacy—musical, cultural, and personal—and what it means to know where you come from, even when some stories were almost lost.

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