John Legend took the stage at the Billboard Music Awards in October 2020 and behind his customary piano, the Grammy-winning artist poignantly dedicated his performance to his wife, Chrissy Teigen.
“This is for Chissy,” a reserved Legend said as he played the first few notes.
The dedication didn’t seem out of the ordinary for the couple, who often gush and praise each other while living in the spotlight. But this one had a tint of sadness behind it.
Just two weeks earlier, Teigen had announced on social media that she suffered the loss of their third child, a baby boy they had started calling Jack. The couple publicly mourned their child, but Teigen left a clear message at the end of her announcement on Instagram. They were going through grief like they did everything else in their 14-year romance — together.
“On this darkest of days, we will grieve, we will cry our eyes out. But we will hug and love each other harder and get through it,” Teigen wrote.
Their pair met during a music video shoot
Years before Teigen and Legend became one of Hollywood’s fan-favorite couples, they met in a setting familiar to the recording world: a music video.
Teigen and Legend were introduced on the September 2006 set of Legend’s music video for “Stereo,” in which Teigen played the object of Legend’s affection. Sparks quickly flew and Teigen recalled in a Cosmopolitan interview how the two ended up eating In-n-Out burgers at his hotel room after the 14-hour shoot.
"I'm not going to lie. We hooked up," the typically-candid Teigen admitted, adding how the two chatted for a year over the phone as Legend went on tour.
All the while, Teigen was biding her time to be with the superstar singer.
"I let him be himself for a while," she told the magazine. "The worst thing you can do is try to lock someone like that down early on, then have them think, There's so much more out there. I played it cool for a long time.”
Luckily for Teigen, the wit and charm that all her fans love is exactly what ended up making Legend fall for her.
"[At the beginning of our relationship] we were texting a lot, and I started to see her sense of humor," Legend told Entertainment Tonight. "We would talk on the phone, and I started to fall in love with how engaging and witty and funny she is."
Legend wrote his hit 'All of Me' about Teigen
After years of dating, Legend proposed to Teigen in December 2011 on a trip to the Maldives over Christmas. The couple wed two years later on September 14, 2013, seven years after they met and three months after starring in the steamy music video for one of Legend’s biggest hits, “All of Me.”
The romantic song has become a go-to at weddings and instantly made Teigen cry when she heard it.
“It’s inspired by Chrissy. She loved the song and cried when she heard it,” Legend told People.
The video was shot at Lake Como, Italy, the site where the two would have their star-studded wedding just months later. Legend serenaded his new wife with “All of Me” after they said “I do.”
The couple had trouble conceiving their children naturally
In the years following their marriage, Legend and Teigen welcomed their kids Luna in April 2016 and Miles in May 2018.
Though they now delight the internet with their adventures on Instagram, Teigen revealed her rollercoaster journey to motherhood in a segment on her talk show FABLife with co-host Tyra Banks. The then-model revealed she became pregnant with Luna through IVF after the couple tried to have children for years.
“John and I were having trouble. We would have had kids five, six years ago if it had happened,” she said. “But my gosh, it’s been a process.”
Two years later, Teigen once again opened up about her private life, revealing her heartbreaking struggle with postpartum depression after welcoming Luna. The cookbook author wrote about the “spontaneous crying” and days on end without leaving her house in a cover story for Glamour in 2017, recalling how Legend helped her through the pain.
“He’s exactly as compassionate, patient, loving, and understanding as he seems,” she wrote of Legend. “John has been incredible over the last nine months, bringing me my medicine and watching horrible reality TV with me. He is not the goofiest guy, but he has gone out of his way to indulge my sense of humor...I know he must look over at times and think: My God, get it together. But he has never made me feel that way. He wants me to be happy, silly, and energetic again, but he’s not making me feel bad when I’m not in that place.”
The couple welcomed son Miles the next year, and the mini-me of his father quickly took the hearts of the family as they settled into being a foursome.
In August 2020, the family’s music video journey came full circle as the four starred in the video for Legend’s song “Wild” years after the couple brought Luna along for the 2016 music video for “Love Me Now.”
“We have 'All of Me,' the marriage, no kids yet. 'Love Me Now' with Luna and this one with Miles," said Teigen during a YouTube Live chat ahead of the “Wild” premiere.
"It's been chronicling our family's growth and our journey and we're so happy that this video is the next chapter," Legend added.
Legend promised Teigen that their relationship 'will never break'
The ending of the “Wild” music video also included the revelation that the couple was expecting their third child, the first they conceived naturally by surprise after years of trying. But just the next month, Teigen would make the heartbreaking announcement on Instagram that she had suffered a pregnancy loss after weeks of bed rest.
After his Billboard Awards performance, Legend tweeted a statement about the family’s resolve to get through the pain together.
“This is for Chrissy. I love and cherish you and our family so much. We’ve experienced the highest highs and lowest lows together. Watching you carry our children has been so moving and humbling,” he wrote alongside a video of the performance for his new song “Never Break,” another song inspired by Teigen.
“I’m in awe of the strength you’ve shown through the most challenging moments. What an awesome gift it is to be able to bring life into the world. We’ve experienced the miracle, the power and joy of this gift, and now we’ve deeply felt its inherent fragility,” he continued.
“I wrote this song because I have faith that as long as we walk this earth, we will hold each other’s hands through every tear, through every up and down, through every test,” he added. “We promised each other this on our wedding day seven years ago, and every challenge we’ve faced has made that promise more powerful, more resilient. Our love will remain. We will never break.”
