John Legend - All of Me

What this video is

Released in October 2013 as part of Legend's fourth studio album Love in the Future, 'All of Me' captured the early-2010s mainstream appetite for emotionally earnest, piano-driven R&B ballads. The video's black-and-white, verité-inflected aesthetic aligned with a broader prestige-video movement on Vevo, where cinematic production values were used to elevate pop romance narratives. Its Lake Como setting tapped into…

Why it matters

A landmark crossover moment for Neo-Soul/Adult Contemporary R&B: 'All of Me' became Legend's first US Billboard Hot 100 number-one single in May 2014 and the second best-selling song in the US that year. The video's stripped, intimate aesthetic helped redefine prestige R&B visual language in the…

The director

Iranian-American director and photographer born in Chicago, raised in Australia, based in Los Angeles. Got his start photographing surfers and musicians before transitioning to music video direction. His prolific career spans work with Kanye West, Frank…