John Legend to perform at IU

Nine-time Grammy winner John Legend will perform an acoustic solo show at 8 p.m. Dec. 7 at the IU Auditorium.

The event is presented by Union Board.

Tickets will be available at 10 a.m. Wednesday for $35, $45 and $55. A limited number of VIP tickets, including a meet-and-greet with Legend, will be sold for $100.

Students can buy tickets at iuauditorium.com, IU Auditorium box office and all Ticketmaster locations. At the IU Auditorium Box Office, a lottery will be conducted to determine customers’ places in line beginning at 9 a.m.

According to a press release, John Roger Stephens, a Springfield, Ohio native, began his musical career playing back up piano for Lauryn Hill.

Afterward, the R&B/Soul singer collaborated with new artist Kanye West and changed his stage name to John Legend.

He released his debut album “Get Lifted,” which was certified Gold and won three Grammys. His next two albums, “Once Again” and “Evolver,” won another three Grammys combined. 

In 2010, he collaborated with tahe hip-hop group The Roots for “Wake Up!,” an album that won yet another three Grammys.

Recently, Legend has appeared as a judge on the ABC reality show Duets and is signed to West’s G.O.O.D. Music label.

This past year, Legend toured with British soul band Sade and began working on his next album, “Love in the Future.” 

The performance planned for IU will preview this upcoming album, which Legend calls “the best album of my career so far,” according to a press release.

Union Board is conducting a video contest to win VIP tickets to the event.

Entrants will create a video, up to a minute long, detailing why they should win the tickets and meet-and-greet with Legend. 

Videos should be posted on Facebook, tagging the John Legend Concert event page. The video with the most likes will be the winner, and the contestant will be featured on IU Student Television.