Coldplay Album Samples ... the President

Clip of Obama's 'Amazing Grace' to be included on album
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 23, 2015 1:24 PM CST
Coldplay Album Samples... the President
President Barack Obama sings "Amazing Grace" during services honoring the life of Rev. Clementa Pinckney, Friday, June 26, 2015, at the College of Charleston TD Arena in Charleston, SC.   (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Coldplay's new album is out next month, and it has a pretty high-profile guest star: President Obama. Chris Martin says he's sampled the president's rendition of "Amazing Grace," which Obama sang during his eulogy for the pastor killed in the Charleston church massacre earlier this year, on A Head Full of Dreams, the Sun reports. "We have a tiny clip of the President singing 'Amazing Grace' at that church," Martin says, and the group decided to use it during an interlude on the album "because of the historical significance of what he did and also that that song being about, 'I’m lost but now I’m found.'"

"They needed to get permission from Obama himself and the Charleston church it was recorded in," a source says. "Barack Obama wouldn’t let just anyone feature his vocals on the record, especially considering what a deeply emotional moment it was for him. But he clearly loves Coldplay and is happy to be a part of their music history. The band were obviously thrilled." Obama told Martin years ago that he was a fan of Coldplay, Martin revealed back in 2012. (More Coldplay stories.)

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