Common and John Legend won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for their powerful song “Glory” from the film “Selma” at the 87th Academy Awards.
Their performance had the audience in tears.
Read their acceptance speech below:
Common: First, I would like to thank God, who lives in us all. Recently, John and I got to go to Selma and perform “Glory” on the same bridge that Dr. King and the people of the civil rights movement marched on 50 years ago. This bridge was once a landmark of a divided nation but now is a symbol for change. The spirit of this bridge transcends race, gender, religion, sexual orientation and social status. The spirit of this bridge connects the kid from the South Side of Chicago dreaming of a better life to those in France standing up for their freedom of expression, to the people in Hong Kong protesting for democracy. This bridge was built on hope, welded with compassion and elevated by love for all human beings.
John Legend: Thank you. Nina Simone said it’s an artist’s duty to reflect the times in which we live. We wrote this song for a film that was based on events that were 50 years ago but we say that Selma is now because the struggle for justice is right now. We know that the Voting Rights Act that they fought for 50 years ago is being compromised right now in this country today. We know that right now the struggle for freedom and justice is real. We live in the most incarcerated country in the world. There are more black men under correctional control today than were under slavery in 1850. When people are marching with our song, we want to tell you we are with you, we see you, we love you, and march on. God bless you.
Common: Thank you, Ava, Oprah and Harpo and Plan B.
After they won, Common and John headed backstage to the media room. Read some highlights below:
Q. Can you tell us a little bit about your thoughts in terms of where things are socially? Both of you mentioned it somewhat in your comments.
John Legend: I think there still is a lot to be done. Some of the things I spoke about today, about the rolling back of some of the Voting Rights Act is real and people feeling that around the country, what I spoke about regarding incarceration is real and it’s destroying communities and it’s a waste of our national resources to put so many people in prison, and it disproportionately affects black and brown communities. And so when we think about equality and freedom and justice, we know we’ve got more work to do. And we’re going to do that work, we want to do that work, and we hope that our song is inspiration for those who want to do that work as well.
Q. Your acceptance speech was just great, but is there anything you want to add?
Common: Oh, yeah. Because the time was going really quick and there was two of us, I definitely had to cut some of my thoughts short, but I wanted to thank Ava DuVernay and David Oyelowo, like he was the beginning of this film. He had the heart and wanted to make this film and he knew it in his heart. And he made sure that Ava DuVernay got on board, he got Oprah to get it moving and it’s the reason why the film happened, and the cast and crew we got to work with and everybody from Paramount and Plan B and just our team, even our team, the way we’ve been working … it takes a lot to get to this, and I mean, we just thank God that we’re here with this. But obviously everybody that worked on “Selma,” we salute.
Q. Can you just briefly touch a little bit on the collaborative process, how long it took to get the song done and what an emotional journey it was for you two?
John Legend: So Common called me, he called me because he had spoken to Ava, and they wanted to find a song for the end credits of the film. And he called me, I was on tour at the time in London, and he described what they were looking for and he gave me some ideas for the title for the song. And one of the ideas he gave me was “glory,” and that word really inspired me and I wanted to write a chorus and music around that idea of “glory.” And my thoughts were that the song should sound triumphant but also realized that there was more work to do. So when I said, “One day when the glory comes,” that means we still have more work to do. And so that’s what I wrote about. And then Common wrote incredible verses that tied Dr. King’s movement to what’s happening in America today.
Q. In this day and age it seems like a lot of athletes and celebrities don’t like to use the platform that they have to say things like you said this evening. How important do you think it is for people that have a high profile to talk about things of social conscience like you guys did this evening?
Common: Well, as John spoke in his speech when he said Nina Simone and talked about using this platform, I feel like to whom much is given much is required. And the fact that we have an opportunity to get to a stage like the Oscars, I mean how could you not say anything, especially representing a film like “Selma,” representing the song “Glory,” and just honestly being an artist that cares. Like beyond what we have done on this song, John has always made music about love. He’s been doing things for education for a long time. He stands up for issues. Him and his wife send trucks to people that were protesting, food trucks to people that were protesting in New York to support them. Those are the things that I feel like we can do as people in a position of power and influence. So yes, I feel it’s our duty. And I don’t hold any other artists accountable, but it’s our duty, if you recognize that, to do it.
Q. You got a standing ovation tonight when you performed. People were in tears in the audience. I don’t know if you saw that. Music is the universal language. How do you want this song to start a dialogue universally about what we need to do in terms of diversity and equal rights?
John Legend: Well, I think we already talked about it today, and we wrote this song in response to “Selma,” and I think that film is so poignant and urgent and current even though the events it depicted were 50 years ago. So I think all of that is helping us to think about how we interact with each other, how to live for the spirit of love and not a spirit of fear, and hopefully we’ll take those lessons and continue to learn from each other, recognize each other’s humanity and try to strive towards a love that is public which Dr. Cornel West said, Loving in public is what justice is, and so we’re focused on justice because that’s what it means to love people that you don’t even know and fight for their rights and see the value in their lives, and hopefully we’re able to spread more of that love.
