NEW YORK

John Legend has formed a musical version of The Avengers to help his new album marvel. “We’ve got some musical superheroes with superpowers in here,” Legend said with a laugh.

His all-star team of collaborators include Grammy-winning songwriters and producers, as well as lead artists in their own right, including Raphael Saadiq, Anderson .Paak, Charlie Puth, Ryan Tedder, Ester Dean, Julia Michaels, Ricky Reed, Tayla Parx, Teddy Geiger and more.

“I think of every album as a discovery process. I don’t know what I’m going to create before I start the album, but I leave myself open. I leave myself open to my muse. I leave myself open to whatever inspires me during that time. I also leave myself open on collaborators,” he said.

“Bigger Love” is Legend’s seventh album and will be released Friday. Four of the album’s superheroes — Puth, Saadiq, Parx and Geiger — discuss working on Legend’s album in interviews with The Associated Press.