John Legend on How Daughter Luna Helped Inspire 'Darkness and Light' Title

John Legend fans BEHOLD: his new single "Love Me Now" is finally here! The Grammy and Academy Award winning singer/songwriter has shared his new song, which is his first solo single since 2014's "Glory" featuring Common and the first single from his upcoming album titled Darkness and Light -- and it was well worth the wait. 

John recently stopped by iHeartRadio HQ in New York City, and told us all about his new single, and what fans can expect from his new album. Heads up: it's full of amazing music reflective of his life today, a few awesome features, and top-notch production.

On the meaning behind the lyrics for his single "Love Me Now"

"It's the first song off my new album, Darkness and Light, and it's a really simple concept for the song. It's saying there's uncertainty, both in the world and in your own relationships, but don't worry about tomorrow. Sometimes you just gotta focus on now, and live for now, and love for now." 

He adds of the inspiration behind the lyrics, "Just seeing what is happening in the world, you never know what's gonna happen, and you never know about tomorrow. We have loved ones around us, and of course I have my own family, and you have to hold them close, and give them all you got right now."

There are more new songs from John where that came from. Darkness and Light is Legend's fifth studio album, and the follow-up to 2013's Love in the Future, which hit No. 2 on the US Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Chart and No. 4 on the US Billboard 200. 

The name Darkness and Light comes from common recurring themes throughout many of the album's songs, and also ties in to John and his wife Chrissy Teigen's daughter, Luna. And yes, that's Chrissy on the "Love Me Now" cover art. 😍

On the meaning behind his album title Darkness and Light

"Darkness and Light is really about trying to find joy and light in all that's going on. I named it based on just listening to my own songs, and thinking about the themes in the songs, and some of the words that kinda recurred, and everything made sense for me. As I thought more about it, some coincidences occurred to me. One is that my daughter's name is Luna. She's literally the light in the darkness -- the moon. When she was born, the first song that was playing was, 'Superfly' by Curtis Mayfield, and the first line of that song is 'Darkness of night, with the moon shining bright.' So, it all kinda came together. Darkness and Light felt like the right title for this moment in my life."

Speaking of his daughter, John is now a first-time father to his baby girl, born earlier this year -- and yes, there is a song for her on his new album Darkness and Light. He tells us, "There's a song I wrote directly for Luna called 'Right By You', and I think the whole album is reflective of where I am in my life as a husband, as a father, as just this citizen of the world."

Darkness and Light also includes some great collaborations, featuring artists like Chance The Rapper, Miguel, and Alabama Shakes' Brittany Howard. 

On how he decided who he wanted to collaborate on Darkness and Light

"I just picked people that I am a fan of that, not only I'm a fan of their work, but I also thought they were perfect for the songs that we asked them to be a part of. For Brittany Howard from Alabama Shakes, and for Chance the Rapper, both of them were put on songs that I had already written with other people, and I knew that they were the right people to collaborate on those particular songs. With Miguel, we wrote the song together, and originally we were just gonna write together, but I thought his voice just sounded so good on the song that I asked him to do it as a duet with me."

Speaking of Alabama Shakes, John primarily worked with one producer: Blake Mills. Mills is best known as executive producer of Alabama Shakes' Grammy-winning album Sound & Color. Working mostly with one producer is a bit of a different approach for John when working on an album.

On working with producer Blake Mills

"Well, it's funny, because some people think of Blake as a rock guy or alternative guy, but to me, when I listen to the Alabama Shakes album, I think of it as a solo album, and I'm a solo artist, and I thought Blake would be a great producer for my album. So, I reached out to him, and we started working together, and I'm really proud of what we did together. He's a great musician, great lyricist, great thinker, and our collaboration was a lot of fun."