''Bigger Love'' is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter and musician

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Every ...

. It was released on June 19, 2020, through

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. The album includes the singles " Conversations in the Dark", "Actions", "Bigger Love", and "Wild". The album won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. The album was further promoted by a limited North American tour leg that began on September 1, 2021, after several stops on the original US and UK tour itinerary were either postponed or canceled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Background

''Bigger Love'' was written mostly in 2019. Recording for the album finished in February 2020. Legend stated he hoped the album would bring joy and be uplifting in light of the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests, riots, and demonstrations against police brutality that began in Minneapolis in the United States on May 26, 2020. The protests and civil unrest began in Minneapolis as Reactions to the mu ...

that were taking place during the album's release. He released the cover art and track listing on June 12, a week before the release.

Artwork

The cover art was painted by artist Charly "Carlos" Palmer. The piece features a smiling portrait of the singer-songwriter covered in blooming flowers and a starry sky against a pop of turquoise backdrop.

Singles

Three singles were put out before the album was released. "Conversations in the Dark" was released on January 10, 2020. "Actions" was released on March 20. Legend performed "Actions" on ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2 ...

''. The title track, "Bigger Love", was released on April 17, 2020. "Wild", a collaboration with American musician Gary Clark Jr., was released on August 13, 2020.

Critical reception

The album received generally mixed reviews from critics. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' rated the album 3.5/5 stars, stating that the album's "self-aware" themes fit well with the current environment of the

. '' Rated R&B'' recognized the album on its 30 Best R&B Albums of 2020 list, stating, "''Bigger Love'' celebrates everlasting love as John Legend serenades with soothing falsettos, bold instrumentation, and groovy new sounds."

Track listing

Notes

* signifies an additional producer * signifies a co-producer * signifies a vocal producer * signifies a remixer * "Ooh Laa" contains a portion of "

I Only Have Eyes for You "I Only Have Eyes for You" is a song by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin. The song was written for the 1934 film ''Dames (film), Dames'', in which it was performed by Dick Powell. Several other successful recordings of the song were m ...

", written by Al Dubin and Harry Warren. * "Actions" contains a sample from "The Edge", written by David Axelrod and performed by David McCallum. * "Remember Us" contains a portion of "I'm Still in Love with You" written by Al Green, Al Jackson, Jr., and Willie Mitchell.

Personnel

Musicians

– lead vocals (all tracks), background vocals (tracks 1–4, 8, 9, 11–15), piano (4, 15), additional keyboards (4) *

Oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

– additional background vocals (track 1); background vocals, keyboards, drum programming (2) * Alex Nice – additional background vocals (track 1); background vocals, keyboards (2) * Keith "Ten4" Sorrells – additional background vocals (track 1); background vocals, keyboards, drum programming (2) * Cautious Clay – background vocals (tracks 2, 6, 18), bass (2), saxophone (6, 18) * Jamelle Adisa – horns (tracks 2, 9); horn

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

, trumpet, fluegelhorn (13) * Natalie Imani – background vocals (tracks 3, 4, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15), ad-lib vocals (6, 18) * Ayana George – background vocals (tracks 3, 4, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15) * Keri Lee – background vocals (tracks 3, 4, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15) *

Raphael Saadiq Raphael Saadiq (; born Charles Ray Wiggins; May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to prominence as a vocalist and bassist for the R&B band Tony! Toni! Toné!, which he formed with h ...

– guitar (tracks 3, 9), bass (4), additional bass (5) * Garrison Brown – additional drums (tracks 3, 5), drums (9, 15) * Matt Jones Orchestra – orchestra (tracks 3, 4, 7, 8, 13–15) ** Matt Jones – string arrangement ** Stephanie Matthews – violin ** Caitlin Edwards – violin ** Clayton Penrose-Whitmore – violin ** Scott Tixier – violin ** Drew Forde –

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

** Tahirah Whittington –

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

* Jeff "Gitty" Gitelman – additional bass, guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, string arrangement (track 4) * Anderson .Paak – drums (track 4) * Pete Kelleher – background vocals, keyboards, synthesizers (track 5) * Ben Kohn – background vocals, bass (track 5) * Sam Roman – background vocals (track 5) * Jake Torrey – background vocals, guitar (track 5) * Gary Clark Jr. – guitar solo (track 5) * Tom Barnes – drums, programming (track 5) * Di Genius – guitar, programming (tracks 6, 18) * Trey Campbell – background vocals (tracks 7, 9) *

Jhené Aiko Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo (; born March 16, 1988) is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer and rapper. Aiko embarked on her musical career in 2002, as a backing vocalist and music video performer for the R&B group B2K. She was signed by the ...

– lead vocals (track 7) * Nate Mercereau – guitar, bass, drums, keyboards,

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

, string arrangement (track 10) * Steve Wyreman – guitar, keyboards (track 10) * Shaina Evoniuk – strings (track 10) * Pom Pom – background vocals, bass, programming (tracks 11, 17) * Gregg Wattenberg – background vocals, guitar, bass (tracks 11, 17) * Jesse Fink – background vocals (tracks 11, 17) * Chance Peña – background vocals (tracks 11, 17) * Mia Wattenberg – background vocals (tracks 11, 17) * Danae Greenfield – piano (tracks 11, 17) * Benzi Ezelson – piano (tracks 11, 17) * Koffee – lead vocals, background vocals (track 12) * Rapsody – rap vocals (track 13) * Scott Mayo – horn arrangement,

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

alto flute The alto flute is an instrument in the Western concert flute family, pitched below the standard C flute and the uncommon flûte d'amour. It is the third most common member of its family after the standard C flute and the piccolo. It is chara ...

(track 13) * Danny "Ezra" Murdock – live drums, drum programming (track 13) * Eric Hudson – additional instrumentation (track 13) * Peter Lee Johnson – additional strings (track 13) * Curtis Hudson – guitar (track 13) * Camper – background vocals (track 14) * Tayla Parx – background vocals (track 14) * Dmitry Gorodetsky –

upright bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

(track 14) * Greg Wells – piano,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

(track 16) * Mr Hudson – programming, string arrangement, percussion, guitar (track 16) * Nasri Atweh – background vocals (track 16) * Mau Montaner – lead vocals (track 18) * Ricky Montaner – lead vocals (track 18)

Technical

* Mike Bozzi – mastering * Gerry "The Gov" Brown – mixing (tracks 1–9, 11–18) * Bobby Campbell – mixing (tracks 3–9, 12–15, 18) * Ricky Reed – mixing (track 10) * Matt Becks – mixing (tracks 11, 17) * Greg Wells – mixing (track 16) * Oak Felder –

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

(tracks 1, 2, 8) * Hotae Alexander Jang – engineering (tracks 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12–15, 18), John Legend vocal engineering (7), additional engineering (10), engineering assistance (16) * Jhair "Jha" Lazo – engineering (tracks 4, 6, 18) * TMS – engineering (track 5) * Rich Rich – engineering (tracks 6, 18) * Lias – engineering (track 9) * Ethan Shumaker – engineering (track 10) * Nate Mercereau – engineering (track 10) * Anthony Kilhoffer – engineering (tracks 11–13, 18) * Leo Bescotti – engineering (tracks 11, 17) * Richard Biethan – engineering (track 16) * Tim McClain – engineering (track 18) * Gregg Rominiecki – Jhené Aiko vocal engineering (track 7) * Danny Johnson – mixing assistance (tracks 1, 2) * Theo Wayland – mixing assistance (tracks 1, 2, 5) * Sean Massih – mixing assistance (track 2) * Kyle Metcalfe – mixing assistance (tracks 3, 4, 7, 8, 12–15) * Keith "Ten4" Sorrells – engineering assistance (tracks 1, 8) * Natalie Ranalli – engineering assistance (tracks 3, 4, 9, 14) * Charlie Marshall – engineering assistance (track 16)

Visuals

* Rob English – creative direction * Chris Feldmann – art direction, design * Don Baker – art direction, design, hand painted signs * Ricardo Bojorquez – design,

layout In general terms, a layout is a structured arrangement of items within certain limits, or a plan for such arrangement. Specifically, layout may refer to: * Page layout, the arrangement of visual elements on a page ** Comprehensive layout (comp), ...

* Charly Palmer – cover and landscape painting * Nurse Signs – hand painted signs * Doug Inglish – photography

Charts

References