John Lennon and the Last Dinner Party lead war child’s 2026 secret 7” auction

The initiative, now in its tenth year, presses each of the seven songs just 100 times onto seven-inch vinyl, with visual artists creating original sleeves for every record. All 700 copies are sold via anonymous online auction, with buyers only discovering the musician and designer after purchase.

This year’s tracklist includes Lennon’s Out the Blue from his 1973 Mind Games album, the Last Dinner Party’s Let’s Do It Again! (taken from the recent War Child HELP(2) compilation), Gabrielle’s 2001 single Out of Reach, and the Maccabees’ 2009 track No Kind Words. Skin’s Purple from her 2006 solo record Fake Chemical State, Glass Animals’ 2016 cut Take a Slice, and Bastille’s Hope For The Future round out the seven.

Visual artists can submit sleeve designs via the Secret 7” website until 1 June. Past editions have featured contributions from Ai Weiwei, Yoko Ono, Anish Kapoor and Es Devlin, with previous designs using materials ranging from traditional illustration to metal and concrete.

“Right now over 520 million children have had their lives impacted by conflict worldwide,” says Charlotte Nimmo, War Child’s fundraising and engagement director. “We hope that, through this creative endeavour, we can offer music and art fans something truly unique to take home that brings them joy when they see and listen, and know that they helped have a tangible impact on children’s lives in the process.”

All 700 records will be exhibited at 180 Studios in London from 18 August to 30 August, with the online auction running from 18 August to 2 September. The identity of each track and its sleeve designer remains secret until the auction closes. Previous editions have raised more than £900,000 for War Child, with 100% of proceeds going directly to the charity’s mental health support, emergency aid, education and protection programmes for children in conflict zones.