If you want to raise your baby on Metallica, Lisa Roth (sister of Van Halen rocker David Lee Roth) has the answer. Roth is the creator of “Rockabye Baby,” an album series that takes popular artists—from classic to contemporary—and produces lullaby versions of their tunes (sans lyrics) that the whole family can enjoy.
“We make lullaby versions of artists that the parent is familiar with and hopefully we create a bridge between the adult pre-baby and parenthood,” Roth says.
“Very often parents feel like they have to put certain aspects of their previous life on the back burner after they become parents, and I like to think that we have created something that’s an answer to that.”
Roth had been trying to buy a baby present for a music-loving friend when she realized the gap in the baby music market. As staff at a record label, she was in the perfect position to fix that. “Rockabye Baby” began as a rock series—their first three albums were for Radiohead, Coldplay, and Metallica—but has since expanded to include various popular artists as well as themed albums.
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While the original thought of Metallica lullaby renditions sounded silly and ironic to Roth’s team, the series’ popularity speaks for itself. Best-sellers outside of those first three releases include Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, and Justin Timberlake, and Blink-182’s record sold a surprising amount: Roth says she realized plenty of Blink-182 lovers are now parents.
“If the parent is enjoying the music with the child, if the parent is singing along because they want to… it can enrich the way a baby or child receives the music,” Roth says. “There is a part of the parent that wants to share this music with their child, share something they loved growing up…hopefully it translates into how the children perceive it and enjoy it.”
“Rockabye Baby” releases six to eight albums every year, and no genre is exempt from the lullaby treatment. Aside from possible partnership opportunities and expanding their merchandise (which currently includes onesies!), Roth says of the albums soon to be released: “We have some doozies coming up.”
For more information on Rockabye Baby, visit rockabyebabymusic.com!
Music Programs We Love
92Y, 92y.org
apple seeds, songsforseeds.com
Applause New York, applauseny.com
Carnegie Hall Kids, carnegiehall.org
Church Street School for Music and Art, churchstreetschool.org
Come Join the BAND!, comejointheband.com
Diller-Quaile School of Music, diller-quaile.org
Eastside Westside Music Together, eswsmusictogether.com
Gymboree Music, gymboreeclasses.com
Gymtime Rhythm & Glues, gymtime.net
Hands On!, handson.org
JCC Manhattan, jccmanhattan.org
Kids’ MusicRound, kidsmusicround.com
Kidville, kidville.com
Lavender Blues, lavenderbluesmusic.com
Little Maestros, littlemaestros.com
Lucy Moses School at Kaufman Music Center, kaufmanmusiccenter.org/lms
MusiBambino, musibambino.com
Music for Aardvarks, musicforaardvarks.com
Music Together in the City, musictogethernyc.com
NY Kids Club, nykidsclub.com
Riverside Music Studios, riversidemusicstudios.com
School for Strings, schoolforstrings.org
TADA! Youth Theater, tadatheater.com
Third Street Music School Settlement, thirdstreetmusicschool.org
TLB Music, tlbmusic.com
Turtle Bay Music School, tbms.org
WeBop at Jazz at Lincoln Center, academy.jazz.org/webop
