“All of Me” is a song by American contemporary R&B recording artist John Legend from his fourth studio album Love in the Future (2013). Legend co-wrote the song with Toby Gad and co-produced it with Dave Tozer. The song is a dedication to Legend’s wife Chrissy Teigen. “All of Me” impacted American mainstream urban radio as the album’s third single on August 12, 2013. On the week ending May 16, 2014, it peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 becoming his first number one single in the United States. It knocked off “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, which spent ten weeks on the chart. The song peaked at number two in the United Kingdom and New Zealand and topped the charts in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden and the Netherlands. A remix of the song featuring EDM artist Tiesto was released in January 2014.
Background and composition The song is a tender piano power ballad, which was inspired by his then fiancée Chrissy Teigen. The couple met in 2007 on the set of his video for “Stereo”. He then married her on September 14, 2013. The song was produced by Dave Tozer and Legend himself. It is a simple, modest proposal set against delicate keys.
Release and promotion In June 2013, John Legend premiered “All of Me” during a performance on Oprah Winfrey’s Oprah’s Next Chapter. On August 6, 2013, the full song was premiered as it was released to iTunes along with the pre-order for Love in the Future. “All of Me” impacted American mainstream urban radio as the third single from Love in the Future on August 12, 2013.
Dutch electronic producer Tiesto released a remix of the song in January 2014.
The song was performed in the 2014 Glee season-finale episode “The Untitled Rachel Berry Project” by Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss).
Critical reception “All of Me” was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. Ken Capobianco of The Boston Globe named the song the album’s “essential track”. Ryan Patrick of Exclaim! said the song, shows “Legend’s current commercially friendly, sentimental sound.” Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone called the song a “mountainous piano crusher”. Julia Leconte of NOW stated that Legend’s voice shines in the song. Molloy Woodcraft of The Guardian also praised Legend’s vocal talents on the song.
Commercial performance As of April 27, 2014, the song has sold 3,155,896 copies in the United States according to Nielsen Soundscan. After being stuck at number two for six weeks, “All of Me” finally reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on the chart dated May 17, 2014. This would be Legend’s first US Billboard Hot 100 number one song, almost 10 years since his first appearance on the chart. That was the longest wait for an artist’s first number one song from their first chart appearance since Snoop Dogg waited 10 years and 10 months for his.
Music video The song’s music video was shot in Italy just days before his wedding, featuring Legend’s fiancée, model Chrissy Teigen. In the video the couple “gets naked and makes love in the shower and underwater, while he serenades her with the song.” The video ends with footage from their actual wedding in Lake Como, Italy. On September 12, 2013, the first image from the music video was released. On October 2, 2013, the full version of the Nabil Elderkin-directed black and white music video for “All of Me” was released. The video was meant to bring the relationship full circle, as he chose the man who originally introduced them Elderkin to direct it.
A duet version of the song with accompanying music video was filmed with violinist Lindsey Stirling and released on YouTube on October 26, 2013.
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