John Legend Announces Pharrell-Produced Album ‘Muse,’ Led by New Song ‘Daylight’
Categoria: Musica
"Daylight," available to stream today, is the first listen from Legend's upcoming full-length release, out Oct. 23 via Republic.
Por Billboard | 08/09/2026
John Legend and Pharrell Williams made an album in Paris last year that the EGOT artist says is unlike any of his others. Related John Legend to Portray Harry Belafonte in ‘The Road Home’ Film About Controversy Over Paul Simon’s ‘Graceland’ Album Macklemore Faces Petition to Leave Ed Sheeran Tour After 'Free Palestine' Plea Second Festivalgoer Death Reported at Burning Man 2026 Muse , set for an Oct. 23 release on Republic Records — and written and recorded at Pharrell’s studio at Louis Vuitton’s headquarters, where he’s men’s creative director — had Legend looking beyond evergreen piano standards and into a “Black James Bond aesthetic, but with a modern backbeat at its foundation.” “You can hear traces of me and traces of him, but it sounds like something new for the both of us. The combination of me and Pharrell, on paper, I think, is a good idea. And the execution is even better,” he says of Muse in a press statement released Tuesday (Sept. 8). “I think my repertoire has always been very diverse, but the piano-driven ballads have gotten the most traction throughout my career. I wanted to shake up the formula and do something fresh and new,” Legend notes of the pair’s new project, which calls upon influences like Nina Simone, Nat King Cole and Marvin Gaye. “Daylight,” the first single from Muse , arrives on streaming services today. Legend previewed the song with a performance from Nashville that was broadcast during CBS’ American Tailgate the night before. Another album track, “Pray for Ya,” soundtracked Louis Vuitton’s Fall-Winter 2026 Men’s show. Pharrell produced the entire album. He’s also a co-writer, and he’s a featured artist on six tracks. “When Pharrell called me, I thought, let’s do this,” says Legend, whose guest vocal on the Clipse track “The Birds Don’t Sing” inspired Pharrell — who’d produced Clipse’s 2025 set Let God Sort ‘Em Out — to team up with Legend on a full album. “A lot of people would have imagined we’d done something like this already, but we hadn’t. It felt past due.” John Legend, ‘Muse’ Republic Records Just as Legend guested on Clipse’s album, Clipse features on the Muse track “Bodies on the Floor.” Muse ‘s title is in part inspired by the nine Muses in ancient Greek mythology. It’s also the name of the record’s opening track, which chronicles a “tumultuous relationship between a man and his muse … against the romantic backdrop of Paris and high art,” Tuesday’s press release says. The “muse” of that track is just a character the duo came up with, though Legend adds, “Our ancestors are our muses. My music has always been me channeling the ancestors, taking what they gave us and making something n