MacFarlane Makes Bein' Green Look Easy: "Seth MacFarlane Sings The Muppets" Album Coming This September

The Grammy-nominated singer puts a sophisticated jazz spin on beloved songs from The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, and classic Muppet films.

Seth MacFarlane is trading the Great American Songbook for the Great Muppet Songbook. The Emmy-winning creator, actor, writer, and Grammy-nominated singer is set to release Seth MacFarlane Sings The Muppets, a new album celebrating beloved songs from everyone’s favorite frog and the rest of the Muppet gang.

What’s Happening:

  • According to Billboard, the 14-track album arrives September 18 via Verve Records/Republic Records and will feature MacFarlane’s interpretations of songs spanning three classic Muppet feature films: The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, and The Muppets Take Manhattan, along with selections from Sesame Street and The Muppet Show.

  • The project is already underway with the release of the album’s first single, “Bein’ Green,” one of the most recognizable songs associated with Kermit the Frog. The classic track was written by Joe Raposo and has become one of the most enduring songs to emerge from the Muppet and Sesame Street universe.
  • The album will also include another signature Muppet favorite, “Rainbow Connection,” alongside songs that longtime fans will recognize from the movies and television series.
  • For MacFarlane, the project represents a chance to revisit songs that were part of his childhood while approaching them through the lens of his longtime appreciation for classic vocal jazz and orchestral arranging.
  • “Songs from Sesame Street, The Muppet Show and the Muppet films became bona fide standards,” MacFarlane said in a statement. “My friend and the arranger of this album, Andrew Cottee, and I are contemporaries, and we both had fond memories of all those great Muppet songs from that era. We both loved the idea of creating an album in which we selected our favorites and recorded them 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.”
  • That approach gives Seth MacFarlane Sings The Muppets a distinctive musical identity. Rather than simply recreating the songs as they originally appeared, the album reimagines them through the lush orchestral and vocal arrangements associated with the golden age of traditional pop and jazz.
  • MacFarlane has spent much of his recording career exploring that musical territory. In addition to creating hit television and film projects, including Family Guy and Ted, he has established himself as a respected traditional jazz vocalist.
  • He is a multiple Grammy nominee and has released six albums that reached the top five of Billboard’s Traditional Jazz Albums chart. His most recent album was Lush Life: The Lost Sinatra Arrangements, released in 2025 and centered on previously unheard arrangements associated with Frank Sinatra.
  • Now, instead of Sinatra standards, MacFarlane is turning his attention to songs written for puppets, though the new project is taking those songs just as seriously from a musical standpoint.
  • Seth MacFarlane Sings The Muppets was produced by Joel McNeely and recorded at Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, California. The sessions brought together musicians from London and Los Angeles, with the ensemble conducted by John Wilson.
  • Andrew Cottee, who arranged the album, also shared his excitement about bringing the project together.
  • “The music of The Muppets was an obvious choice for a new recording project with Seth,” Cottee said in a statement. “The whole process of selecting the songs, arranging, recording and hearing the full mixes was a joy, and I hope that comes across to everyone who listens to this album.”
  • The resulting tracklist brings together a wide range of Muppet favorites, moving from romantic ballads and theatrical numbers to some of the franchise’s most instantly recognizable songs.

  • The album opens with “Together Again,” followed by “Somebody’s Getting Married” and “Couldn’t We Ride.” “Bein’ Green” follows, leading into “Hey, A Movie!” and “Right Where I Belong.”
  • Fans will then hear “I’m Going to Go Back There Someday,” “Happiness Hotel,” and “Rainbow Connection,” before MacFarlane teams up with actress and singer Liz Gillies for “Movin’ Right Along.”
  • The final portion of the album includes “Steppin’ Out With a Star,” “I Hope That Somethin’ Better Comes Along,” “Halfway Down the Stairs,” and “The First Time It Happens.”
  • The song selection pulls from several generations of Muppet storytelling, giving longtime fans an opportunity to hear familiar songs in a completely new musical setting while potentially introducing younger listeners to some of the classics.
  • For MacFarlane, the project also continues a longstanding tradition of treating popular songs as sophisticated musical material. The Muppet catalog happens to provide a particularly rich collection of compositions, thanks to celebrated songwriters including Paul Williams, Joe Raposo, and Jeff Moss.
  • With its combination of nostalgic songwriting, large-scale orchestration, and MacFarlane’s signature vocal style, Seth MacFarlane Sings The Muppets promises to be an unusual but fitting addition to his growing discography.

  • The album is currently available for pre-order ahead of its September 18 release.

Seth MacFarlane Sings The Muppets Tracklist

  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”
  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”

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