John Legend’s Crowd-Sourced Video Shows Creative Ways People Cope with Quarantine

Singer-songwriter John Legend built quite the resume. He’s released six albums, starred in NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, won an Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special and joined The Voice for Season 16 (winning with his mentee Madelyn Jarmon). Legend is also a partner in Get Lifted Film Co., and he initiated the #FREEAMERICA campaign in 2015 to “change the national conversation surrounding our country’s misguided criminal justice policies and to end mass incarceration.”

Legend’s new album, Bigger Love, will arrive on June 19 via Columbia Records.  The official video for the album’s title track “Bigger Love” recently premiered on The Voice.

Fans from around the world were asked to submit their clips to be included in the music video, which takes viewers through a “trip of personal messages, phone calls and social media videos from people, collectively highlighting the many ways we are all staying connected and spreading love during these times.”

It’s inspiring stuff.

“This video was made to celebrate our shared love, hope and resilience,” says Legend in a press release. “We’re all using technology to stay in touch and finding creative ways to cope and we wanted the video to be a big musical hug for people around the world who are finding ways to stay connected to family, help their neighbors, and make time for a needed dance break despite the crazy circumstances we find ourselves in.”

In addition, MelodyVR is launching Live from LA, a free live music series that’ll be broadcast from a specially designed studio location in Los Angeles.  The series commenced on May 16 with an exclusive show from Legend.        

In order to prioritize the safety of the team, artists and the wider community, social distancing and safety precautions will be rigorously observed at all times. According to the press release about the series, the following measures are taken:  Artists and performers remain in isolation for the duration of the performance, and do not come into contact with the public or on-site crew. The crew to communicate with artists and handle all technical and production needs from an entirely separate area. There will be no direct, in-person interaction between artists, their teams and the MelodyVR team. Before and after each performance, the studio is extensively sanitized and cleaned using antibacterial agents by a professional team. Artists have a separate entrance to the building and to the performance to enable them to drive from door to door, enter the building, perform and head home with no cross-contamination. 

Performances will be broadcast on smartphones and VR headsets via the MelodyVR app (downloadable at on.melodyvr.com/App).