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Music

St Vincent and John Legend Linked Up with Zack Galifianakis for Planned Parenthood

Highlight: St Vincent trying not to break character and crack up.
Lauren O'Neill
London, GB

It's not every day you get John Legend and Annie Clark (AKA St Vincent) in a room together. Behemoths of their own genres (R&B smoother than the most finely ground nut butter and bedroom rock for weird girls and guys everywhere respectively) they might be, but it's rare that they cross paths.

However, they've been united by the fight for reproductive rights in the US, for a new project 7-Inches for Planned Parenthood – they know there's a joke in there, don't worry – that will unite artists from across the musical community and beyond for a singles compilation to benefit the charity. But this isn't a strictly American thing. Contributors will include Björk, Bon Iver, Common, Elliott Smith, Foo Fighters, Bryce Desner and Matt Berninger of The National, Mitski, Chvrches (who will collaborate with Kristen Stewart for an accompanying film clip) and Feist, among others.

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To promote the initiative, John and Annie produced a video cover of Minnie Riperton's "Loving You," which is all well and good until close personal friend of all music Zack Galifianakis shows up to tell them how it's really done. This involves him smashing up a chair, playing an accordion, and telling St Vincent to be "less Luther Vandross."

There's obviously a darker and immediate story inspiring all of this: the possibility of Planned Parenthood being defunded. "Lawmakers with extreme views are working hard to shut down Planned Parenthood," reads the 7-Inches Facebook page. "If they succeed, millions of Americans will lose access to basic health services, including STD testing and treatment, birth control, and life-saving cancer screenings.

7-inches for Planned Parenthood is a response to this threat. This curated series of 7-inch vinyl records is being made by a group of people who believe that access to health care is a public good that should be fiercely protected. Do we know there's a joke in the name? We do. We hope the title evokes the rich history of 7-inch vinyl records as a medium for protest music and resistance."

The artists involved in the vinyl charity project so far.

Watch the parody video above, and do a better job of not laughing out loud than Annie Clark:

(Image via YouTube)