John Legend 'Wake Up Sessions' Album With The Roots Close To Being Finished

via MTV

John Legend is a pretty lucky guy. He sang the national anthem at the World Series and joined Stevie Wonder onstage at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th anniversary concert last fall — on the same day.

The piano-playing crooner will follow those achievements with the release of his next album, Wake Up Sessions, with the Roots. According to Legend, he's been a fan of the Philadelphia band since his college days, when he was a student at the University of Pennsylvania.

"We're, like, 99 percent done. We've done all the recording, and now we're mixing half the album, and it's coming out in September," the singer told MTV News. "I'm very excited about it. It's gonna be a very interesting, very cool album. And like I said, I'm a big fan of the Roots. I'm excited to be able to put out an album with the Roots. This is a group I've been following since I was a kid at UPenn. I would go to open mics and watch them host the open mics, wishing I could be onstage with them, and now I'm in the studio with them making this album, and it's pretty exciting."

Legend and the Roots joined forces last month to perform at a 40th-anniversary Earth Day event. Wake Up Sessions is the follow-up to Legend's 2008 album, Evolver, which featured the Andre 3000-assisted "Green Light."