Inside John Legend's Emotional Billboard Tribute To Chrissy Teigen

They say music has the power to heal, and John Legend proved just that with his performance at the 2020 Billboard Music Awards on Oct. 14. The Grammy Award-winning artist dedicated his performance of "Never Break," a single off the singer-songwriter's 2020 album Bigger Love, to his wife Chrissy Teigen. The emotional tribute to his wife comes after the couple announced the tragic loss of their third child just a few short weeks prior to the award ceremony.

Lyrics to the song "Never Break" read: "We got a good thing, babe/ Whenever life is hard/ We'll never lose our way/ 'Cause we both know who we are/ Who knows about tomorrow?/ We don't know what's in the stars/ I just know I'll always follow/ The light in your heart." The singer gave a heartfelt performance seated, of course, behind a piano wearing a white suit. Legend's single "Never Break" talks about a "foundation, strong enough to stay," and despite trials and tribulations, their "love will remain."

The moment John Legend began his performance with, "This is for Chrissy," fans knew they were in for an emotional ride. Legend's wife, former Sports Illustrated model Chrissy Teigen shared the ups and downs of her third pregnancy with fans via Instagram since the couple announced the news via the music video for John Legend's "Wild." The Cravings cookbook author then took fans along for the ride as she was put on a mandatory bed rest, and then admitted to the hospital for excessive bleeding. However, the journey came to an abrupt end when, on Sept. 30, 2020, the model shared with the world she and Legend had lost their baby boy Jack.

Teigen's miscarriage, which she shared with her millions of Instagram followers, was met with support from fans and other celebrities praising the model for being brave enough to let fans inside her grief. Since the tragic loss, the couple has remained quiet on social media, and stayed out of the public eye. Legend's 2020 Billboard Music Awards performance was the first appearance for the musician since the news. Fans of the singer reacted to the performance on social media, quickly elevating Legend to one of Twitter's trending topics and expressing all the emotions as he shared his healing through music.

Kelly Clarkson hosted the 2020 Billboard Music Awards and introduced John Legend with recognition for the pain he and wife, Chrissy Teigen, were feeling. "John Legend is one of my favorite people on this planet, and it's easy for us all to feel that way about him because he and Chrissy both just have this warm way of inviting us into their world — the highs and the lows," Clarkson said, according to Us Weekly. "My heart — obviously all of our hearts — go out to you both in this very difficult time, and I'm thankful that you continue to share your light and your talent with all of us."

While Legend and Teigen have mostly stayed away from social media after their miscarriage, fans got active to share their reactions to Legend's tribute. One person wrote on Twitter, "John Legend starts his Billboard performance of 'Never Break' by saying, 'this is for Chrissy' so naturally I'm now in tears." Another Twitter user wrote, "'This is for Chrissy,' John Legend is everything that's good with the world."

Legend's performance and dedication was heartbreaking and trend-worthy. It's clear Teigen is a huge inspiration for him. In fact, this wasn't Legend's only musical project dedicated to his wife.

The first song John Legend ever wrote for Chrissy Teigen was called "Good Morning," which came out on his 2008 album Evolve, according to PopSugar. Per the same outlet, Legend's "The Beginning" was released right before they got married in September 2013 in Italy, as well as his classic, "All of Me."

Legend's song "You & I (Nobody in the World)" was, of course, also dedicated to Teigen. And when he performed the song in Los Angeles in July 2014, he told the audience (per Cosmopolitan), "When I wrote this song I was thinking about when Chrissy and I go on date night. Sometimes there's all this pressure to look so good. This song is just letting her know that even before all of the makeup and all those fancy clothes, she's already perfect in my eyes."

Teigen has also spoken publicly about her love for her husband. At the 2018 Glamour Women Of The Year Awards ceremony, Legend introduced his wife on stage. When Teigen got up to speak, she said (via HuffPost), "I joke about it a lot, but I truly have the most incredible husband on the planet. You are our everything. You completely made me a woman. We've grown together. Our family's grown together. Our careers have grown together."

They've indeed grown together and shared this love with the world, but Legend's 2020 Billboard dedication might be the most moving display of love for his wife yet.