Just three months after performing with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, John Legend is bringing out his Christmas cheer at the Fox Theatre on Dec. 17.
This is the first time Legend has hit the road during Christmas season in six years, in part because he did not coach the fall season of NBC’s “The Voice,” although he’ll be back to the show for the spring.
“I always love playing Christmas shows,” said Legend in a phone interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “This music is so nostalgic. It’s classic and timeless for a reason. I love evoking that spirit, bringing those memories back.”
For his set list, he chose several songs from his 2018 album “A Legendary Christmas” including originals such as “Bring Me Love” and “No Place Like Home” and classics such as “Merry Christmas, Baby” and “What Christmas Means To Me.” He’ll also throw in some Legend hits such as “Save Room” and “All of Me.”
Recently on Instagram, his wife Chrissy Teigen said she was watching one of his Christmas shows earlier this month and didn’t recognize a song he was singing called “When We Fly.” She was embarrassed when she Googled the song and realized it was a song he recorded from his recent children’s album “My Favorite Dream.”
Legend took it in stride. “The kids listen to the album all the time but somehow she never noticed ‘When We Fly,’” Legend said. “She’s been playing the album all the time without the kids ever since.”
Legend is an executive producer of “Rhythm + Flow,” a popular Netflix hip-hop competition show that was shot in Atlanta and recently concluded its second season. Two of the three judges were also from Atlanta: Latto and Ludacris.
“Atlanta is so important to hip-hop and it’s really the center of hip-hop culture right now,” Legend said. “Taping it there was the right thing to do.”
He said he is staying “neutral” on the recent winner DreTL, a soon-to-be Georgia State University graduate, over West Coast rapper Jay Taj. “I trust our judges,” he said. “Of course it’s controversial. That’s what art is. It’s debatable.”
And though “Rhythm + Flow” has yet to get a third season green light from Netflix, Legend said “the show is getting a lot of energy and buzz this year. We are also bringing the concept to other countries. France and Italy have versions. Brazil, too.”
He likes how “Rhythm + Flow” focuses on original lyrics based on the performers’ own lives. “It makes it more raw and real” than “The Voice,” he said. “There’s no comparison to any other shows out there. It’s very special.”
Most of the 28th season of “The Voice,” which starts airing Feb. 24, has already been taped, Legend said. He will be joined by fellow crooner Michael Bublé, country singer Kelsea Balleriini and Maroon 5′s Adam Levine, who is back after a six-year hiatus from the show.
Levine used to have a sibling-style rivalry with longtime “Voice” coach and country star Blake Shelton, who left the show in 2023 after 12 years. “Nobody can fight with him like Blake could,” Legend admitted. “It’s a little more peaceful now. I can talk some smack, but he and Blake had a special love-hate relationship.”
Besides “The Voice,” Legend said his 2025 will include writing songs for a couple of Broadway musicals and celebrating the 20th anniversary of his breakthrough album “Get Lifted.”
“My main feeling is gratitude and appreciation for this whole journey,” he said. “We’ve revisited the album and made a bunch of remixes, refreshed versions of the originals with new guests. We’ll have Killer Mike and Lil Wayne on ‘Used to Love U.’ We did ‘Ordinary People’ with Tems and Simi, who are Nigerian artists.”
Legend came to Georgia in the fall to campaign for Kamala Harris and other Democratic candidates in other races. He also performed at the Democratic National Convention. He said he has licked his wounds about the Harris loss and is moving forward.
“I think we all have to buckle up and continue to be good citizens,” he said. “What this means is paying attention to what’s happening in our communities and staying involved. We’ll hopefully hold all our leaders accountable for what they say and what they will do.”
IF YOU GO
“John Legend Christmas”
8 p.m. Dec. 17, $79 and up, Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta. www.foxtheatre.org.
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