John Legend Reveals How He ‘Wrangled’ Wife Chrissy Teigen and Their Older Kids to Sing on New Album (Exclusive)

“I have video evidence,” the star tells PEOPLE of the day he corralled his family into the music studio.

 

It’s been nearly 20 years since John Legend first burst onto the scene with his soulful debut R&B album, Get Lifted.

Back then the young star was a bachelor crooning about quintessentially bachelor things on hits like “Used to Love U” and “She Don’t Have to Know.”

But what a difference a couple of decades, a happy marriage and four beautiful children can make on a man. “It’s truly nonstop,” the EGOT-winning entertainer, 45, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue of life with his wife of 11 years, Chrissy Teigen, 38, and their kids Luna, 8, Miles, 6, Esti, 20 months, and Wren, 15 months.

“They’re so cute, and it’s interesting to see their personalities develop,” he adds of his little ones, “but it’s all hands on-deck.”

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Balancing a busy career with the full-time demands of family life is no small feat, but Legend recently merged his two worlds to create his latest musical baby: My Favorite Dream, a family album released in partnership with Fisher-Price.

With the record, Legend has officially gone from baby-making music to making music for babies. And the project has been a family affair: Lead single “Love” features Teigen, Luna and Miles on the hook. “It’s four voices singing over top of each other,” he says. “We recorded a video of me trying to wrangle them and show them how to navigate the studio.”

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Once inside, “The main thing was keeping everybody on time with the tempo and everything,” he explains. “And they’re not used to singing and using headphones and things of that nature. So all the things that I am so used to that I kind of take for granted since I do them all the time, you have to kind of show them how to navigate.”

That said, the whole process “was pretty quick and easy. My studio’s right by their school and Chrissy and I were doing a shoot there that day. The kids came by after school and it took us probably about 10 minutes to finish. Once they got used to using the headphones and everything it was pretty easy for them to knock it out.”

As for who did the best, Legend has to give it to his wife. “Chrissy’s the more polished vocalist,” he says with a laugh.

For more on John Legend and life with wife Chrissy and their kids, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, available Friday.

Legend’s new family album My Favorite Dream is available now.

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