A decade into his seductive soul man career, John Legend’s biggest hit was inspired by the model who married him.
The US singer wed Chrissy Teigen days after the couple frolicked together in the video to All of Me. It became his first US No 1 and is the third biggest UK single of 2014.
Legend, whose real name is the less showy John Stephens, was entitled to feel pleased with himself at this comeback. But he really didn’t need to remind us of his early session musician highlights on records by Lauryn Hill, Jay-Z and Kanye West.
A long-time ally, West co-produced Legend’s current album and you could hear his hip-hop influence on the big beats of Made to Love, though it was an energetic human drummer rather than a machine.
“I’m not a one-man band,” Legend sang on the surging R&B of Save the Night, and it was true of this performance alongside musicians and a string quartet with plenty of soul.
Of course, the screams were all for Legend. A powerhouse on the piano and a towering vocalist, he delighted this audience with the groove of debut single Used to Love U.
Fans were out of their seats as he wandered the stage with his sexually charged falsetto on Green Light and Michael Jackson’s Rock With You.
In truth, though, Legend seemed diminished away from the piano. When he sat and played a gospel-tinged cover of Bridge Over Troubled Water, he sang with spinetingling conviction.
All of Me was the obvious encore, an irresistible power ballad that had everyone singing along to his tender tribute to Mrs Legend.
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