John Legend Lifts the Lid on Tumultuous Childhood in Modest $43,000 Ohio Home—After His Mom ‘Left’ Family Amid Depression Battle

Singer John Legend has opened up about his very humble roots in Springfield, OH, and the upheaval he experienced after his mother “left” the family home amid a battle with depression.

Legend, 46, who lives with his wife, Chrissy Teigen, and their four children in an expansive $6 million Los Angeles home, took a trip down memory lane, revealing how his music career blossomed inside the walls of his family’s modest property—which he shared with his father, mother, and three siblings.

Legend was raised in a “working-class community on the east side of Springfield,” he said. The family lived in a four-bedroom home—a property that was last sold for just $43,100 in 2010.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the musician recalled how he spent the first decade of his life living an incredibly sheltered existence—having been homeschooled alongside his siblings until the age of 11.

“I didn’t attend public school until I was 11,” he revealed. “Up until then, my three siblings and I were homeschooled by our mom. She did such a great job that I skipped two grades, making me two years younger than my eighth-grade classmates.”

However, his life was turned upside down when his parents, Ronald and Phyllis Stephens, divorced after his mother “slipped into a depression” when her own mom passed away.

“She was emotionally unavailable and eventually left us,” he explained.

During his mother’s departure, Legend entered public school for the first time, an experience that he admits was “hard,” largely because he was so much younger than the other children in his grade.

“Entering the ninth grade at age 12 was hard. I was the only one who wasn’t a teenager yet. Once kids realized I’d skipped two grades, they called me Doogie, as in ‘Doogie Howser, M.D.,’ the TV sitcom,” he recalled.

Thankfully, his musical abilities served as an icebreaker, and Legend ultimately graduated second in his class, having also been voted student body president and the prom king.

The chart-topper has since reunited with his mother, who has taken a seemingly prominent role in the lives of Legend and Teigen’s four children. However, he admits to the Journal that it “took a little time” for him and his siblings to get to know her and “feel comfortable” around her after she “returned” to the family shortly after he graduated from college.

He was full of praise for his father, however, crediting Ronald for taking over “all parenting duties,” while also serving as a sounding board for Legend and his siblings whenever they needed anything.

His father worked on an assembly line at a local International Harvester factory, while his mother was a full-time homemaker. Both of his parents also took on work making garments, with Legend revealing that they made almost all of the clothing he and his siblings wore.

Legend’s parents worked hard to bring his musical dreams to life within their home, installing a piano and a drum kit for him and his brother.

Today, Legend’s life is a world away from the humble Ohio suburb in which he grew up. Thanks to his mother’s teaching skills, he gained entry to the University of Pennsylvania when he was just 16—and it was during his time at the prestigious college that his music career took off.

Over the years, he and Teigen have made a number of high-value home purchases, the most recent of which saw them snapping up a stunning West Hollywood abode for $5.1 million in 2020.

The four-bedroom, four-bathroom property is the “perfect balance between light, space, comfort and warmth,” according to the listing.

Describing the property to the Journal, the “All of Me” singer said it boasts “cozy, contemporary interiors,” many of which he and his wife regularly showcase on their social media accounts.

However, Legend hasn’t forgotten his roots. He made a trip back to his childhood home in 2016, sharing an image of himself posing outside the two-story dwelling along with the caption: “My childhood home in Springfield, OH.”