John Legend has a new album of children’s music on the way.
With this new project, the EGOT is entering new territory since impressing listeners with his debut, Get Lifted. The new children’s album, entitled My Favorite Dream, centers on universal themes like love, safety, family and dreams across nine original tracks, two covers, a solo piano track and three bonus covers of Fisher-Price songs.
To kick off the My Favorite Dream, Legend released the lead single “L-O-V-E” which serves as the follow-up to his critically acclaimed 2022 LP Legend.
“This song captures the spirit of what I always wanted this album to be. I wrote it as an anthem to celebrate our common humanity and bring a smile to people’s faces,” he said about the new tune that features his wife Chrissy Teigen and their children Luna and Miles. “I hope this song is uplifting and inspiring for everyone.”
In an interview with the Associated Press, Legend said that he “wanted the parents to like it.” He added, “I wanted the same standard of like quality and musicianship that I would want on any of my records.”
The inspiration to delve into children’s music came from spending quality time with his own tots. As detailed in the AP interview, Legend took a Fisher-Price song and tried to recreate it on the piano so he could sing it to his daughter, Esti.
“It all started when I was just playing a version of one of the songs that is on a Fisher-Price play mat: The song called “Maybe,” that a lot of parents of toddlers know very well.” He continued, “Chrissy recorded me learning the song and singing it to Esti on the piano. She posted it to her Instagram. And all my fans were like, ‘John, you got to do more children’s songs. You got to cover all the Fisher-Price songs.’”
While Esti is the inspiration for the new endeavor, her sister Luna is at the helm of design. Eight-year-old Luna, Legend’s eldest daughter’, illustrated the cover art, which features red hand drawn hearts. Luna, her brother Miles and mom, Chrissy are background vocalist on “L-O-V-E”.
“Special thanks to the artist, Miss Luna, for the beautiful artwork,” Legend wrote, also posting a muted video of him dancing with his 1-year-old daughter Esti. “All music is baby tested, baby approved.”
My Favorite Dream will be available Aug 30