John Legend’s new album ‘Bigger Love’ and piano battle coming Friday

Springfield native John Legend has two reasons for a “big” celebration this week.

"Bigger Love" is Legend's seventh album and will be released Friday, June 19. Also on Friday, Legend will square off with Alicia Keys in a Juneteenth piano battle.

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‘BIGGER LOVE’

His team of collaborators include Grammy-winning songwriters and producers, as well as lead artists in their own right, including Raphael Saadiq, Anderson Paak, Charlie Puth, Ryan Tedder, Ester Dean, Julia Michaels, Ricky Reed, Tayla Parx, Teddy Geiger and more.

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"I think of every album as a discovery process. I don't know what I'm going to create before I start the album, but I leave myself open. I leave myself open to my muse. I leave myself open to whatever inspires me during that time. I also leave myself open on collaborators," Legend told the Associated Press.

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Credit: Zach Cordner

Credit: Zach Cordner

PIANO BATTLE

Alicia Keys and John Legend will square off on the piano Friday for a special celebration of Juneteenth.

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Verzuz, the online battle series created by Swizz Beatz and Timbaland during the pandemic, has drawn 1.6 million followers to the Verzuz Instagram account.

The weekly series so far has seen battles between Ryan Tedder and Benny Blanco, Erykah Badu and Jill Scott, Ne-Yo and Johnta Austin, T-Pain and Lil Jon and Swizz Beatz and Timbaland.

This story contains information from the Associated Press

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