Segerstrom Center Presents 'AN EVENING WITH JOHN LEGEND' Tonight

Nine-time Grammy Award-winning artist John Legend will appear at Segerstrom Center for the Arts for the first time when he performs tonight, April 2 at 8 p.m. in the Rene?e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. This engagement is part of his recently announced 2014 North American tour titled, An Evening with John Legend: The All of Me Tour, which begins March 20 and goes through June. Legend is featured in an intimate acoustic setting, highlighted by guitar/vocal accompaniment as well as a string quartet.

The tour comes in support of Legend's highly acclaimed fourth studio album, Love In the Future, which continues to gain momentum on the Billboard 200 chart and currently sits in the top 10 on the R&B Album chart. Produced by Legend and longtime collaborators Kanye West and Dave Tozer, the album's smash single, "All of Me," was recently certified Gold sales status.

Tickets for John Legend start at $50 and will go on sale Saturday, February 1 at 10 a.m. PST. Single tickets will be available online at SCFTA.org, at the Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa or by calling (714) 556-2787. The TTY number is (714) 556-2746.

Ohio-born John Legend is a critically acclaimed, multi-award winning, platinum-selling singer-songwriter. He's sold an impressive seven million albums worldwide. His work has garnered him nine Grammy Awards, three Soul Train Awards, the BET Award for Best New Artist and the special Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. A graduate of University of Pennsylvania where he studiEd English and African American literature, Legend participated in a wide range of musical activities while in college.

During the same period, Legend was introduced to Lauryn Hill, who hired him to play piano on her track "Everything Is Everything," and shortly thereafter he began to play shows around the Philadelphia area, eventually expanding his audience base to New York, Boston, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. After college, Legend was introduced to then up-and-coming hip-hop artist Kanye West, who quickly signed Legend to his G.O.O.D. Music imprint and hired him to sing vocal hooks on some of his music. Legend started gaining momentum through a series of similar collaborations with established artists, adding vocals to an impressive list of chart-topping hits including West's "All of the Lights," Jay-Z's "Encore" and back-up vocals on Alicia Keys' 2003 song, "You Don't Know My Name." Legend's debut album, Get Lifted, was released in December of 2004 through Columbia Records. The critically acclaimed album spawned the artist's first hit single, "Ordinary People," and scored Legend multiple Grammy Awards in 2006, including Best R&B Album, Best New Artist and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. The follow up was 2006's platinum-selling Once Again, which brought Legend another Grammy, Best Male R&B Performance, for his single "Heaven," and included collaborations with Kanye West, will.i.am and Raphael Saadiq. Legend's next release was 2008's Evolver, led by the hit single "Green Light" featuring Andre 3000. Legend's most recent effort was his 2010 collaboration with The Roots, Wake Up, which won the Grammy for Best R&B Album a year later.

Throughout his career, Legend has worked to make a difference in the lives of others. In 2007, he launched the Show Me Campaign (ShowMeCampaign.org), an initiative that focuses on education as a key to break the cycle of poverty. The 2010 BET Humanitarian of the Year award, the 2009 CARE Humanitarian Award for Global Change, the 2009 Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award from Africare and the 2011 Harvard Foundation Artist of the Year Award recognize Legend's efforts and leadership in this area. Legend sits on the boards of The Education Equality Project, Teach for America, Stand for Children and the Harlem Village Academies and co-chairs the Harlem Village Academies' National Leadership Board.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts is unique as both an acclaimed arts institution and as a multi- disciplinary cultural campus. It is committed to supporting artistic excellence on all of its stages, offering unsurpassed experiences, and engaging the entire community in new and exciting ways through the unique power of live performance and a diverse array of inspiring programs.

Previously called the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Segerstrom Center traces its roots back to the late 1960s when a dedicated group of community leaders decided Orange County should have its own world-class performing arts venue.

As Orange County's largest non-profit arts organization, Segerstrom Center for the Arts owns and operates the 3,000-seat Segerstrom Hall and intimate 250-seat Founders Hall, which opened in 1986, and the 2,000-seat Rene?e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, which opened in 2006 and also houses the 500-seat Samueli Theater, the Lawrence and Kristina Dodge Education Center's studio performance space and Boeing Education Lab. A spacious arts plaza anchors Segerstrom Center for the Arts and is home to numerous free performances throughout the year as part of Segerstrom Center for the Arts' ongoing Free for All series.

The Center presents a broad range of programming each season for audiences of all ages from throughout Orange County and beyond, including international ballet and dance, national tours of top Broadway shows, intimate performances of jazz and cabaret, contemporary artists, classical music performed by renowned chamber orchestras and ensembles, family-friendly programming, free performances open to the public from outdoor movie screenings to dancing on the plaza and many other special events. It offers many education programs designed to inspire young people through the arts. These programs reach hundreds of thousands of students of all ages with vital arts-in-education programs, enhancing their studies and enriching their lives well into the future.

In addition to the presenting and producing institution Segerstrom Center for the Arts, the 14-acre campus also embraces the facilities of two independent acclaimed organizations: Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory and a site designated as the future home of the Orange County Museum of Art.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts is also proud to serve as the artistic home to three of the region's major performing arts organizations: Pacific Symphony, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County and the Pacific Chorale, who contribute greatly to the artistic life of the region with annual seasons at Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

AN EVENING WITH John Legend: THE ALL OF ME TOUR

Segerstrom Center for the Arts - Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall Wednesday, April 2, 2014 at 8 p.m.

Address: 615 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA Segerstrom Center for the Arts

Tickets: Start at $50; tickets go on sale February 1 The Box Office, Open 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.; daily at SCFTA.org or by calling (714) 556-2787.

Information provided is accurate at the time of printing, but is subject to change. Segerstrom Center for the Arts is a private, non-profit organization. "Segerstrom Center for the Arts" is a registered trademark.