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John Legend: ‘Kanye had so much optimism. It’s sad to see where he is now’

The soul singer talks about falling out with his mentor and friend, family life with Chrissy Teigen and why Trump’s America is ‘extremely scary’

Twenty years ago an unknown singer from Ohio made Get Lifted, an album that revived the classic soul genre, won three Grammy awards, sold more than three million copies and launched its creator on a knotty, high-profile path of R&B superstardom, political advocacy and Instagram dad fame. He was following a well-worn tradition — Me and Mrs Jones by Billy Paul and The Dark End of the Street by James Carr are just two tear-jerking soul classics about the thrill, pain and guilt of cheating on your partner — still, you have to wonder what was going on in his life at the time. Along the way Legend has made an album of children’s songs with the cult indie singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens, became an Egot (winner of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award) — the first black man to do so — and offered a super-smooth, liberal epitomisation of the American dream.

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