Seth MacFarlane - Seth MacFarlane Sings the Muppets (Black Vinyl)

Black Vinyl LP

This is the standard black vinyl LP of Seth MacFarlane Sings the Muppets, released by Verve Records and Republic Records on September 18, 2026. All fourteen songs are here, seven to a side, opening with "Together Again" and closing with "The First Time It Happens." Verve's own store also sells a green vinyl "Bein' Green" edition, which carries a different barcode.

The songs come from the first three Muppet feature films, The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper and The Muppets Take Manhattan, with further selections from Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. Verve's notes tie the album to the 50th anniversary of The Muppet Show. The writers include Joe Raposo, Paul Williams and Jeff Moss. The first single was "Bein' Green," which Raposo wrote for Kermit the Frog. Liz Gillies sings with MacFarlane on "Movin' Right Along"; the two had earlier made the 2023 holiday album We Wish You the Merriest.

Andrew Cottee wrote the arrangements, John Wilson conducted, Joel McNeely produced and Rich Breen engineered. The orchestra, drawn from players in London and Los Angeles, was recorded at Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, California. MacFarlane has said the idea was to record the songs "in the style that might have come out of orchestrators like Nelson Riddle and Billy May, had these songs existed in the golden era of arranging."

Two of the songs carry long histories of their own. Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher wrote "Rainbow Connection" for The Muppet Movie in 1979; it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and in 2020 the Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry. "Halfway Down the Stairs" is A. A. Milne's 1924 poem set to music by Harold Fraser-Simson; Robin the Frog sang it in the first season of The Muppet Show, and that version reached number 7 on the UK Singles Chart in 1977.

This is MacFarlane's tenth studio album and follows Lush Life: The Lost Sinatra Arrangements (2025). His albums have come out on Republic since Music Is Better Than Words in 2011, with Verve joining from In Full Swing in 2017. No One Ever Tells You (2015) reached number 1 on Billboard's jazz albums chart, and Music Is Better Than Words, No One Ever Tells You and In Full Swing were each nominated for the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Together Again
2. Somebody's Getting Married
3. Couldn't We Ride
4. Bein' Green
5. Hey, A Movie!
6. Right Where I Belong
7. I'm Going To Go Back There Someday

Side B

8. Happiness Hotel
9. Rainbow Connection
10. Movin' Right Along (featuring Liz Gillies)
11. Steppin' Out With A Star
12. I Hope That Somethin' Better Comes Along
13. Halfway Down The Stairs
14. The First Time It Happens