Just because you’re friends with Kanye West doesn’t mean you’re always going to share the same opinion, and John Legend definitely doesn’t. Legend, who performed “Glory” at the Grammys Sunday night, thought it was funny that West jumped onstage when Beck received his award for Album of the Year, but he didn’t agree with West’s post-award comments about Beck.
During a post-award interview with E!, West said that Beck should have given his award to Beyoncé and that Grammy voters are continually “diminishing art, and not respecting the craft, and smacking people in the face after they deliver monumental feats of music.”
Even though Legend has some controversy of his own to respond to—such as why he couldn’t find it in his heart to tell Beyoncé, “Hell no, you’re not singing ‘Take My Hand, Precious Lord’”—the R&B singer weighed in on West’s comments Tuesday on Instagram:
Beck is indeed a true artist’s artist. He’s a multi-instrumentalist, a creative and unique singer-songwriter whose music I have bought and enjoyed over the years. While his win may have been a surprise to many, it’s not because he’s not a great artist deserving of recognition. All of the other nominated artists, including Beyoncé, are incredible in their own right, and arguments could be made for any of them deserving to win. This is not an objective process. It’s completely subjective, in fact. We can all debate who we thought should have won. But even if you didn’t vote for him, plenty of our colleagues in the music business did. These voters are all creators who love music and have dedicated their lives to it, and the plurality of them chose Beck as the Album of the Year. I respect their decision and congratulate Beck on this outstanding accomplishment.
So now that he’s gotten that off his chest, back to this Beyoncé thing.
Dear John Legend,
It’s OK to say no to Beyoncé at times. The world will not end. OK?
—Signed, everyone who thought Ledisi should have performed “Take My Hand, Precious Lord.”