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Coldplay's A Head Full of Dreams to include Obama singing Amazing Grace

Coldplay's forthcoming album A Head Full of Dreams features a host of high-profile cameos – from Beyoncé to Noel Gallagher to Brian Eno – but lead singer Chris Martin has revealed perhaps the biggest name lending his voice to the band's new effort: U.S. President Barack Obama.

Clip sampled from Obama's eulogy for Charleston shooting victim

Chris Martin said he and his Coldplay bandmates wanted to sample Obama's Amazing Grace clip 'because of the historical significance of what he did and also Kaleidoscope being about "I'm lost but now I'm found."' (Greg Allen/Invision/Associated Press)
Coldplay's forthcoming album A Head Full of Dreams features a host of high-profile cameos – from Beyoncé to Noel Gallagher to Brian Eno – but lead singer Chris Martin has revealed perhaps the biggest name lending his voice to the band's new effort: U.S. President Barack Obama.

"We have a tiny clip of the President singing Amazing Grace," Martin told British paper The Sun.

A sample of Obama singing the hymn is included in the track Kaleidoscope

The excerpt stems from the eulogy Obama gave for Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney – one of the nine victims shot and killed at Charleston's Emanuel AME Church – in June. The White House and the historic downtown Charleston church granted the U.K. band permission to include the audio clip.

Obama eulogizes Charleston shooting victim Rev. Pinckney and leads mourners in singing Amazing Grace

9 years ago
Duration 2:50
Obama eulogizes Charleston shooting victim Rev. Pinckney and leads mourners in singing Amazing Grace
Martin said he and his bandmates wanted to use the clip "because of the historical significance of what he did and also that that song being about, 'I'm lost but now I'm found.'"

Obama, who has included Coldplay songs on personal music playlists he's shared publicly, isn't the only amateur singer featured on the album. The release will also feature contributions from Martin's ex-wife Gwyneth Paltrow, the couple's children Apple and Moses Martin, and Blue Ivy Carter, the daughter of Beyoncé and Jay Z.

Coldplay's seventh studio album, A Head Full of Dreams, is slated for release Dec. 4.