John Legend Wants His New Album To Be A Timeless Classic For Families

The legendary singer and father of four reflects on his 20-year career — and shares why he decided to make a children's album.

For the last 20 years, John Legend has built a legacy on love. The EGOT winner has several classic romantic ballads and wedding-worthy songs, but nowadays, he’s taking cues from the love of his family, as evidenced by his new album, “My Favorite Dream.”

The father of four’s new project, his first children’s offering, was spurred last November after he posted a viral Instagram video of him performing a cover of “Maybe,” his 1-year-old daughter Esti’s favorite Fisher-Price song. With a nudge from the Mattel kids brand and fan comments demanding a full children’s album, Legend told HuffPost he was inspired to take the idea and run with it — bringing his wife, Chrissy Teigen, and their kids along for the ride, too.

“My family’s so, so intrinsically involved in it because they’re the inspiration for it,” Legend, 45, explained of the family affair on “My Favorite Dream,” which was released on Friday, a few days after the singer held an intimate listening session at his Beverly Hills home.

The soothing collection of kids’ sing-alongs and lullabies includes nine original tracks, three bonus Fisher-Price covers (“Maybe,” “Friendship” and “Great, Great Day”), and two other covers, all of which Legend tested on his family as his “first focus group.” Regarding subject matter, the 12-time Grammy-winning artist looked no further than the principles he and Teigen have instilled in their children.

“I wrote songs based on a lot of the messages that we give our kids anyway,” Legend said. “Then, of course, Chrissy was the one that encouraged me in the first place to record the cover to ‘Maybe.’”