--- description: They went way, way back title: Watch Common and John Legend's Hilarious Lip-Sync Battle image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch Common and John Legend's Hilarious Lip-Sync Battle by [Adam Carlson/People](/author/people/) ## Adam Carlson/People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 4, 2015 4:58 PM CUT by [Adam Carlson/People](/author/people/) ## Adam Carlson/People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 4, 2015 4:58 PM CUT Surprising everyone, and maybe each other, the face-off between [Common](http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,personsTax:Common,00.html "undefined") and [John Legend](http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,personsTax:JohnLegend,00.html "undefined") on Spike’s _Lip Sync Battle_ included big hair and bigger clothes, as both performers transformed into classic stars. Common came first, dressed as Lionel Richie to lip sync to “All Night Long (All Night)” – wearing the hair, that shirt, those _pants_. Not to be outdone, Legend put on a pair of pants himself with a spin as MC Hammer on his “U Can’t Touch This.” . Naturally, the audience loved it. Co-host (and Legend’s supermodel wife) Chrissy Teigen loved it. Co-host [LL Cool J](http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,personsTax:LLCoolJ,00.html "undefined") said to Common, after, “What?! You had Lionel Richie breakdancing. I love it.” _Lip Sync Battle_ had other battles, too: the Oscar-winning duo also faced off earlier in the episode, pitting the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” against Juvenile’s “Slow Motion.” And [Dwayne Johnson](http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,personsTax:DwayneJohnson,00.html "undefined") fought – and won – against [Jimmy Fallon](http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,personsTax:JimmyFallon,00.html "undefined"), with [a one-two of “Shake It Off” and “Stayin’ Alive.”](http://www.people.com/article/dwayne-the-rock-johnson-lip-sync-taylor-swift "undefined") _This_ [_story_](http://www.people.com/article/john-legend-common-lip-sync-battle-video?xid=IFT-Trending "undefined") _originally appeared on People.com_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3771499/watch-common-john-legend-lip-sync-battle/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3771499/watch-common-john-legend-lip-sync-battle/"},"headline":"Watch Common and John Legend's Hilarious Lip-Sync Battle","datePublished":"2015-04-04T16:58:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:18:22.248Z","description":"They went way, way back","url":"https://time.com/3771499/watch-common-john-legend-lip-sync-battle/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","Music"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Adam Carlson/People"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3771499/watch-common-john-legend-lip-sync-battle/","name":"Watch Common and John Legend's Hilarious Lip-Sync Battle"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"25 Iconic Taylor Swift Instagrams in 25 Seconds","description":"25 Iconic Taylor Swift Instagrams in 25 Seconds","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/I8WlXTNY/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-12-11T16:58:18.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/I8WlXTNY.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3771499/watch-common-john-legend-lip-sync-battle/","duration":"PT35S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3771499/watch-common-john-legend-lip-sync-battle/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```