Very few artists have been able to impact the entire world of pop music the way Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds has over the past four decades. He has plenty of sexy, soulful hits of his own as a singer and songwriter, but as a producer, he’s teamed with the most legendary names in the business to create classic songs with Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, Madonna, Beyoncé, Mariah Carey and many more. As the co-founder of LaFace Records, he set a new trend in pop R&B and launched the careers of Toni Braxton, Usher and TLC. Now he’s bringing his own personal universe of music to the Terry Fator Theater at The Mirage Dec. 27-29 for a concert experience only he can provide.

The Mirage seems like the ideal spot for you, considering longtime friends and collaborators Boyz II Men have been there for several years.

I went to see their show (recently) and it’s very good. I’m very proud of them, to think of where they started. We did our first major tour together in 1995, so to see where they’ve taken it and what they’ve done is very exciting and very cool.

You’ve written for and collaborated with so many icons. Who are some of the artists that have inspired you most when working together?

That’s a big list. You’re talking about Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson, and working with people like Whitney Houston and Toni Braxton. A few years ago I did a record with Barbra Streisand and it was inspiring just to be in the studio with her and hear her voice and see her gift. I think it’s not only about being inspired to write a song but also being proud to be in the business we’re in, making music and touching people with music. That’s the biggest gift you walk away with, that you’re a part of this fraternity of music and artists and you can be in the same room with people who have touched the world. That’s a helluva feeling.

You came to town recently for the Soul Train Awards. Are you a frequent Vegas visitor?

I used to be. I love Vegas and I’m excited to be actually playing on the Strip, and how that happened was a couple months earlier, I came to see Bruno Mars’ show. I’ve been in the studio working with Bruno and he invited me to come up and see his show at Park MGM. I really liked it. And he said, “You should do Vegas,” because he had just come to see one of my shows. I wasn’t too sure, but he started talking to some people at MGM (Resorts) and the next thing I know, they’re saying there’s an opening at The Mirage. Over the years, I’ve wanted to give (Vegas) a try, and I guess it all fell into place this time.

The music you’ve created is timeless. What have you learned about the way your songs continue to resonate with different audiences?

Music is forever. You have to understand that what you grow up with stays with you always, and when you get a chance to relive those moments through music, you want to do it again and again. There’s nothing else like it. One of the things that makes my show special is I go through a medley of songs I wrote for different artists, kind of like a ’90s revue, and there are so many artists I had a lot of success with. That’s a really fun part of the show.

Are there specific songs in that medley that you really enjoy performing?

They’re all fun. I think for the most part when people come to a Babyface show they think they’re coming to a night of slow ballads and that they might get bored. And we always surprise them because it’s not that at all. To go through songs by Bobby Brown and Boyz II Men to Johnny Gill and the Whispers and Dru Hill, that’s a lot of energy. And that’s just the guys’ stuff. At some point I’m going to go through the girls’ stuff. I haven’t even touched that for a medley.