'I didn't produce any porn': John Legend negotiated with a porn producer to secure his stage name

John Legend had to "negotiate" with a porn producer to secure his stage name.

The All of Me hitmaker had been performing under his real name, John Roger Stephens, when he landed the nickname during a studio session with then-friend Kanye West and spoken-word artist J. Ivy, but his lawyer told him he needed to trademark the moniker if he wanted to use it professionally.

However, before he could do that, it was discovered there was someone else with a similar name, but he and John managed to make a deal without any money changing hands.

Speaking on Word+Music, he said: "Lo and behold, there's a porn producer - I kid you not - a porn producer who dabbled in rockabilly music, and he went by the name Johnny Legend.

"The fact that he made music, rockabilly music, and his name was Johnny Legend, meant that there was a possible trademark infringement case.

"We had to find Johnny Legend, negotiate with him, cut a mutually exclusive deal stating that he was Johnny Legend, and I was John Legend.

"He wouldn't sue me. I wouldn't sue him. He wouldn't try to get into the soul music business pretending to be John Legend.

"And I'm happy to make clear that I kept my side of the agreement. I didn't produce any porn, didn't make any rockabilly music pretending to be Johnny Legend."