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Google Assistant launches first celebrity cameo with John Legend

The voice of the singer and songwriter will respond to a variety of questions through the Google Home and other Google Assistant devices.

Andrew Gebhart Former senior producer
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Andrew Gebhart
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Google

Almost a year ago, Google announced a bunch of new voice options for the company's digital helper, simply known as Google Assistant . Singer and songwriter John Legend headlined the group of voices, which were otherwise of the AI-generated variety. The rest launched shortly after the May announcement, and finally, starting Wednesday, Google's first celebrity cameo for Google Assistant goes live.

John Legend's voice will be available in English in the US on any device with Google Assistant -- smart speakers like the  Google Home , smart displays like the   Google Home Hub and smartphones. You can enable it in the settings of the Google Assistant app or by telling your device to "Talk like a Legend." (Here's more detail on how to give Google Assistant John Legend's voice.) 

Note that your default Google Assistant will still respond to most of your queries. John Legend's voice will respond only to certain relevant questions like, "What's your favorite music?" as well as some more general ones like, "What's the weather?" And apparently, John Legend's voice will be available only for a limited amount of time.

Google also hinted that more celebrity cameos could be on the way thanks to the company's WaveNet tech -- a speech synthesis program that helped bring John Legend to your countertop smart speaker.

In the meantime, here is Google's list of questions you can ask to hear a reply from John Legend:

Easter eggs:

  • "Serenade me."
  • "Sing me a song."
  • "Are you John Legend?"
  • "Do you know Chrissy Teigen?"
  • "How are you?"
  • "Sing Happy Birthday."
  • "Tell me a joke."
  • "Who's your celebrity crush?"
  • "What's your favorite song?"
  • "What's your best pickup line?"
  • "Compliment me."

Ordinary questions:

  • "What's the weather?"
  • "How far away is the moon?"
  • "What are jazz hands?"
  • "How do you cook bacon in the oven?"
  • "Is there an atmosphere on the moon?"
  • "Is Venus the same size as the Earth?"
  • "Why is the sky blue?"
  • "What's the temperature outside?"
  • "Do I need an umbrella today?"
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