John Legend earns his first top 10 single on the Billboard Adult R&B Airplay for Republic Records. His Muni Long-featured single “Honey” is No. 8 this week (Sept. 10).
It’s his 11th top ten single on this chart. His chart advancement comes days after the duet did the same at R&B radio.
Previously, 2020’s “U Move, I Move” featuring Jhené Aiko reached No. 4 in February 2021, while “Conversations In The Dark” peaked at No. 10 in June 2020.
Both songs appear on his Grammy-winning album Bigger Love, featured on Rated R&B’s Best R&B Albums of 2020.
Of Legend’s 26 entries on the Adult R&B Airplay chart, two of them peaked at No. 1, including “All of Me” and “Tonight (Best You Ever Had).”
The latter track, on which Ludacris features, set a chart record as the first artist to ascend to the summit with a hip-hop collaboration.
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“Honey” is Long’s second-highest charting song on the Adult R&B list behind “Hrs and Hrs.” Her viral single had a good chance of moving to No. 1 but only rose to No. 2.
The increase in radio spins for “Honey” will play a big factor in the success of its parent album, LEGEND, which releases this Friday, Sept. 9.
The double album marks Legend’s first LP to be issued on Republic Records. (Legend announced his signing to the label in November 2021. “I am thrilled to take this new artistic and creative journey with them and look forward to sharing new music with people soon,” he said.)
Along with the sweet, focus track mentioned above, LEGEND will include the lead single “Dope” featuring JID, as well as “All She Wanna Do” featuring Saweetie.
Jazmine Sullivan, Ledisi, Ty Dolla $ign, Amber Mark, and Rick Ross are among the few other acts to guest a track on LEGEND.
Ahead of the album’s release, Legend shared the meaning behind its title. “Until this point, I’ve never used an aspect of my name as the title of an album,” he explained.
“I had to earn that, to live up to it by delivering in the performance and the music. And this is me saying, I’m proud of who I am, I’m confident in the work I’ve done, and I’m just going to declare it.”
The EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner takes on a traditional promotion campaign for LEGEND, scheduling a series of in-store album signings.
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He’ll be hosting two on Sept. 10, one at Target in Jersey City, New Jersey, and another at Rough Trade in New York City, New York.
He will host a third signing event on Sept. 15 at Barnes & Noble at The Grove in Los Angeles, California.
“To celebrate the release of #LEGEND, I’ll be in person signing copies of my album! There will be limited availability so make sure you sign up now at the link in my bio,” Legend wrote in an Instagram caption.
Beginning Oct. 14, Legend will return to Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino for his “Love In Las Vegas” residency. It will conclude Oct. 29.
Stream “Honey” by John Legend and Muni Long below.
