Will John end up a legend?

SINGAPORE – He looks heavenward, his voice at times seductive, at times pained. He alternately tries to go as near as the audience while staying on stage and caresses/pounds on the piano keys as his song demands of him.

That’s John Legend, the man behind the hit Ordinary People – three-time Grammy winner (Best New Artist, Best Male R ’n B Vocal Performance, Best R ’n B Album for Get Lifted).

Legend takes you on wings of song to a place where emotions keep tumbling on you with no rhyme or reason. You just know you feel light and breezy, your body gently rocking to and fro in Where Did My Baby Go, a song stepped in longing and what-might-have-beens.

But the feel-good vibes is short-lived. Legend drips with angst and savage passion as he switches to Again, another track in Once Again his new album for SonyBMG. This time, the meek and mild Legend is gone. Instead, he lashes at you, full force. The sound of his piano keys rises and falls, threatening to break the acoustic system of the widely-hailed Esplanade Concert Hall, and you’re caught in a web of desire for love that keeps coming back despite the odds.

Now I know what Oprah Winfrey felt when she begged Legend to perform for her in her top-rating show. The 28-year-old African-American clearly remembers that red-letter day: "I was in Australia and had to fly to L.A. to do the show for her. Then, it was off to London that night."

It was a punishing schedule. But what the heck. It was Oprah, and Legend, after "doing a couple of songs for her," found it cool.

Shuttling from place to place around the world is getting to be a way of life for the singer-songwriter who originally answered to the name John Stephens (Legend was something he got from his friends).

For this Asian tour alone, Legend and his band – a group of musicians whose artistry reflects its solo performer’s gift for the craft – covered Tokyo and Hong Kong (besides Singapore).

Far from daunting him, Legend wants more.

"I love performing around the world. I love touring. And I can’t wait to do more. I can’t wait to come to Manila!" he exclaims, breaking into a boyish grin.

This wanderlust courtesy of music keeps him up on his toes in matters of health. Living in a suitcase can be exhausting. So he makes sure he faces the challenge with a full plate.

"I get a lot of rest, I work out to keep my body in shape (you’re telling me, those rippling muscles peered from his white sando during the encore of his Esplanade show)," he says.

Like a good soldier, Legend toes the line where his voice is concerned. He doesn’t drink alcohol in excess. Neither does he puff even one cigarette stick.

The guy knows where his treasure lies and protects it, but of course.

It is that voice that has made him perform with the best: Alicia Keys (If I Ain’t Got You), Kanye West (in a 2004 tour), and The Black Eyed Peas (The Boogie That B from Elephunk and Like That from Monkey Business), among others.

That voice also turned Legend into a TV celebrity. Aside from Oprah, he has guested on The Today Show and The Tyra Banks Show, where he performed Ordinary People.

In these and in the rest of the package – his concerts, recordings, what-have-yous, Legend is his worst critic. True, he seeks out friends to get honest criticisms, reads the reviews and even goes on-line to find out how he fared with the audience, but ultimately, Legend’s final arbiter of excellence is himself.

"Yes, I’m a perfectionist," he admits. "I always try to find ways to improve.

That quest for excellence can make others so tense they turn into walking timebombs. But not Legend. He can take the pressure that comes from success gracefully.

All that screaming, those I-love-yous, the autograph and photo-op seekers, the hit albums, the awards — they do pressure him, yes.

"It’s a positive kind of pressure," he says.

And just what does Legend mean by that?

"It just shows you there are people who believe in you, who love what you do. And you wanna keep making music worthy of their love, their respect, of the fact that they spend their money to come see you perform," he adds.

Being worthy of his fans’ love also means keeping his eyes and ears open about what they say of his work.

He may or may not agree with other people’s opinions. You can’t please everybody, of course. But Legend keeps an open mind and considers their comments on his next show.

This love affair with his public and his music has snowballed into what’s turning out to be an even better album than Get Lifted, Legend’s platinum-selling debut.

Once Again, under SonyBMG, is No. 3 in the US charts and No. 10 in the UK (Get Lifted was No. 4 in the US, No. 12 in UK). It is a testament to Legend’s talent that mentor Kanye West co-produced Once Again. Kanye even co-wrote the tracks Heaven, about the ups and downs of relationships, and Another Again, with Legend.

The Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am, Legend’s long-time friend, brought lead single Save Room. Legend, in turn, gave the love song its joyful, uplifting feel.

More than the sales and other perks that go with the second album, however, Legend wants music lovers to know the new artist who has evolved since Get Lifted.

"I want them to hear that I’ve grown. That I’m trying to take them to new places and to be excited about that. This album is an expansion more than anything else. I’m trying to be me and embrace all the parts of me that have grown up, listened to more music and soaked up more influences. Get Lifted was me then. This is me now," he says.

The Legend of today, it turns out, not only sings of love and romance, but of political issues, too. Outside his music, the salutatorian of his high school class reads a lot. And among his reading fare are materials on social issues and politics.

This we see a lot of in the track Coming Home. Legend says the song is all about "a soldier who wants to come back to his family and his uncertainty about being away and whether or not he might die. It’s subtle but it still manages to speak to some important issues about life and death, war and peace."

Legend hopes to make more of this kind of music – the type that continues to challenge him and keeps him in tiptop shape as an artist. And he can’t wait to bring it to the rest of the world.

While he’s at it, Legend will make sure he keeps his eyes and ears open to "something greater than me." That something – instilled in him as a boy singing gospel and playing classical piano his grandmother taught him – keeps Legend’s feet firmly planted on the ground.

"The spirituality, the morality has stayed with me," he declares. "It has given me a sense of responsibility. To whom much is given, much is required."

Okay, you may relax now. This guy who knows how to handle success. Far from carrying him away, success only makes Legend feel so blessed he wants to share his bounty with others.

This, more than his music, his Legend’s best gift yet.