The British band Coldplay will feature a sample of President Obama singing “Amazing Grace” in a song in its forthcoming album, the band’s frontman Chris Martin tells The Sun.
A Head Full of Dreams, which is set for release on Dec. 4, will feature a sample of the president singing the Christian hymn at the funeral of Reverend Clementa C. Pinckney in Charleston, South Carolina, last June, The Sun reports.
Pinckney, a South Carolina state senator, was among the nine black men and women who were killed by white supremacist Dylann Roof at Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church earlier this year.
Roof has pleaded not guilty to 33 federal charges, including federal hate crimes and gun charges.
Martin told The Sun, “We have a tiny clip of the President singing Amazing Grace at that church. Because of the historical significance of what he did and also that that song being about, ‘I’m lost but now I’m found.’”
The president reportedly told Martin in 2012 that he was a big fan of Coldplay; however, the singer and former husband of actress Gwyneth Paltrow initially perceived the comment as a generic compliment.
“I met Barack Obama in the summer and one thing he said to me was, ‘Oh I have your songs on my iPod,” but I just thought, ‘Oh I bet he says that to every pop star he meets,’” said Martin.
A source close to the band told The Sun that Obama “wouldn’t let just anyone feature his vocals on the record, especially considering what a deeply emotional moment it was for him.”
The same source added that the president “clearly loves Coldplay and is happy to be a part of their music history.”
Both the White House and the Church reportedly gave the band permission to use the recording.
Watch President Obama performing “Amazing Grace” below: