John Legend Campaigns for Democrats in Ohio

9:17 AM PST 11/5/2018 by Lars Brandle, Billboard

John Legend-Getty-H 2018
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The recent EGOT winner even updated his Oscar-winning song "Glory" for the midterm elections.

John Legend brought some star-power — and his powerful pipes — when he appeared at a Democratic rally Sunday in Cincinnati.

With a huge turnout expected for Tuesday’s midterm elections, the EGOT star left nothing to luck. An outspoken critic of the current administration, Legend delivered a lengthy speech which he completed by singing a line from “Glory,” his Oscar-winning collaboration with Common. With one small twist. “One day… Tuesday… when the glory comes, it will be ours, it will be ours. Oh, glory,” he sang.

Earlier, Legend blasted Republicans for allegedly gerrymandering and engaging in voter suppression. “The government we have today does not reflect the will of the people,” he told the gathering, according to Cincinnati.com. “It does not reflect our values. In fact, it is run by a party that is afraid of democracy. The Republican Party is afraid of democracy.”

The Ohio native also threw his support behind Issue 1, a proposed constitutional amendment on the local ballot that would lessen penalties for crimes of obtaining, possessing and using illegal drugs.

“Show up at the polls to vote in such overwhelming, unprecedented numbers that their dogged efforts at suppression won’t work," he said. "We're not just voting against their agenda, we're not just voting to hold Trump accountable and check his abuses of power, though those are good reasons to vote. In Ohio, we also have positive reasons to vote, too."

Democratic congressional candidate Aftab Pureval and Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, also spoke at the get-out-the-vote event.

This story first appeared on billboard.com