Seven Artists Who Have Released Children’s Albums

Last month, Evanescence lead singer Amy Lee announced that she will be releasing a children’s album through Amazon Music. ‘Dream Too Much,’ which was inspired by the birth of Lee’s son, will be released on September 30^th and will feature kid-friendly songs that are as far away from Evanescence as you can get. You can see a video of the album’s title track right now.

Lee isn’t the only rock singer or band to put out a children’s album. Many others have tried to play to the softer side of the spectrum to reach new fans (or the children of their aging fan bases).

Here are seven artists who have made the leap to children’s music without losing what makes them great.

1.       Barenaked Ladies: In 2008, Canadian alt-rock band Barenaked Ladies released ‘Snacktime.’ A children’s album doesn’t really seem like that much of a stretch for the BNL sound, so it’s not that odd that they took their music in this direction. The album features a list of guest voices filled with heavy hitters, including Geddy Lee of Rush, singers Lyle Lovett and Sarah McLachlan, comedians Harland Williams and Janeane Garofalo, and the incomparable “Weird Al” Yankovic.

2.       They Might Be Giants: Not only has this alternative band released a children’s album, they’ve released three. The band released ‘Here Come the ABCs’ in 2005, then released ‘Here Come the 123s’ and ‘Here Comes Science’ in succession in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Again, these albums don’t take a big departure from the band’s sound, so they’re not hard to listen to. And, you can teach your children their letters and numbers. It’s a win-win.

3.       Ziggy Marley: In 2009, famed reggae singer Ziggy Marley released a collection of children’s songs titled ‘Family Time.’ Only the artist’s third album, it earned him his first solo number one album and a Grammy for Best Children’s Album. The album also guest starred members of the Marley family.

4.       The Verve Pipe: Best known for their single “The Freshman,” The Verve Pipe switched gears for a time in 2009 and released ‘A Family Album.’ As the band’s comeback album (it was their first in eight years), it garnered a lot of praise from critics, who called it a good career move before returning to the rock roots for their next album.

5.       Jewel: When Jewel puts out a children’s album, she does it right. The songstress has released two children’s albums, both with the help of toy manufacturer Fisher Price. Her first, ‘Lullaby,’ even went to number one of the Kid’s Albums chart in the United States.

6.       Kimya Dawson: As a member of the anti-folk band Moldy Peaches, Dawson rose to fame with her work on the soundtrack to the film ‘Juno.’ However, in 2008, she would be inspired by the birth of her son to release her own children’s album, ‘Alphabutt.’ As the title suggests, some of the album is literal toilet humor, but it got pretty good reviews from critics.

7.       The Terrible Twos: After leaving pop-punk band The Get Up Kids in 2005, Matt Pryor started a new band, The New Amsterdams. When The New Amsterdams decided to write a children’s album, they decided to do it under the name The Terrible Twos. The Terrible Twos released two albums, 2007’s ‘If You Ever See An Owl…’ and 2008’s ‘Jerzy the Giant.’

These and many other artists have released music for young children. Now, Amy Lee is joining the ranks with her new solo album. But that’s not to say that she is losing her rock roots. Evanescence has reunited and is currently on tour, though no new music has been announced.

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