Seth MacFarlane Covers Classic Tunes With New Album Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again. × Search search POPULAR SEARCHES SUGGESTED LINKS Join AARP for just $9 per year when you sign up for a 5-year term. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Leaving AARP.org Website You are now leaving AARP.org and going to a website that is not operated by AARP. A different privacy policy and terms of service will apply. Close

Seth MacFarlane s Nearly Secret Singing Talent

The famed comic director and actor is crazy about the classics

Actor and singer Seth MacFarlane performs at New York City's Café Carlyle jazz club in 2019. Mike Smith/NBCU/via Getty Images You may know Seth MacFarlane as the irrepressible and irreverent mind behind TV's Family Guy and a pair of Ted movies about an offensive teddy bear. But what you may not know is that the 47-year-old is also a serious crooner with a deep affection for the American songbook. On his sixth (yes, sixth) album, , MacFarlane covers tunes by such legends as Cole Porter, Henry Mancini, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Lerner and Loewe. His longtime collaborator, conductor Bruce Broughton, has arranged lush orchestration for vintage songs from the cheerful “Let's Not Be Sensible” and upbeat “Once Upon a Dream” to the gorgeously romantic “I Loved You Once in Silence” and swinging “Ten Minutes Ago." The 13-track homage to Hollywood's Golden Age is no vanity project. Graced with an impressive baritone, MacFarlane brings a scholarly knowledge, fierce discipline and impressive track record to the project: five Grammy nominations and a best original song Oscar nod for cowriting “Everybody Needs a Best Friend” from 2012's Ted. He has also infused his comedy works with lavish orchestration. MacFarlane lifted the needle briefly to talk to AARP about why he loves these songs, how hard it was to keep up with Barbra Streisand, and whether a movie musical is in his future. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. There's no “My Funny Valentine” here. You found some hidden gems and have gone for diversity, it seems. Historically, that's what the vocal greats of the past did, Frank Sinatra being the best example. He chose so many forgotten songs of the ‘20s and ‘30s and ‘40s that he reinvented and modernized. That's what we tried to do. Artistically it's more exciting and rewarding than doing “Fly Me to the Moon.” This is the fifth consecutive album you've recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London. What's the appeal? Abbey Road is less about the studio and more about the players. I've worked with the (London-based) John Wilson Orchestra over a number of years, and they really specialize in that genre of music. They have cultivated just the right level of vibrato in their brass and woodwinds and strings. They play old MGM charts from the ‘50s, which are very complex. It was a perfect fit. You grew up singing in church and musical theater as a kid, but got serious about vocal training as an adult in 1999. How important was that work? I trained with a couple, Lee and Sally Sweetland, who were both in their mid-to-late 90s when I started with them. In their younger years, she sang for Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini. He was an opera singer who had a radio program in the ‘40s. They were indispensible in bringing my voice to its fullest potential. They taught me how to utilize the instrument and maintain it. They worked in an era when there were no electronic tricks. You could either sing or you couldn't. To this day, their musical handbook is something I reference internally as I'm singing. Entertainment $3 off popcorn and soft drink combos See more Entertainment offers > Who are the best singers you've come across? That's a long list. Let's put Sinatra aside because he occupies a space all his own. Nancy Wilson is always in my top 5. Vic Damone. Bing Crosby wasn't really a heavy hitter as far as power, but he knew how to use his instrument. Gordon MacRae is up there. That's a voice that's very underrated and largely ignored in this day and age. He's a singer whose voice always seemed to be at its peak. It's an astonishing instrument. At the end of “I Loved You Once in Silence” I hit a falsetto note that's influenced by MacRae. He used to surprise you at the end of his recordings with an uptick that seemed impossible. Barbra Streisand invited you to sing “Pure Imagination” with her on her 2016 album Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway. Was that intimidating? I didn't know her prior to that. There was nothing about her that was imposing. She was warm and supportive. She's roughly 30 years older than I am, and it took every ounce of breath I have to keep up with her. She has pipes that are still unrivaled. I had to really be on my game. She's keeping a lot of this music alive. Because of your commercial success in comedy, it has eclipsed your music side in the public eye. Is it a parallel career? A labor of love? It is a labor of love. It's not something I do with any amount of hand-wringing as far as, will it be successful? The Christmas album () did shockingly well. I find with any project, the ones that generate that kind of feedback are the ones you set out to do because you love it, not because it's a business decision. AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe . I've always been drawn to the film adaptations, just because the orchestras give you the larger string sections. Take shows like Music Man, Carousel or Oklahoma! The orchestration just explodes in the movie versions. I've had my eye on a musical as a future career move. I'm not going to let too much time pass before I take my shot. More on entertainment AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Health & Wellness offers > See more Flights & Vacation Packages offers > See more Finances offers > See more Health & Wellness offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS