Secret 7” launches seventh and final show, with tracks from Bob Dylan and Aretha Franklin

Secret 7” today announces its seventh and final show, inviting creatives around the world to make sleeve artwork for one of seven tracks, to be sold on a first-come-first-served basis, anonymously for charity Help Refugees. The tracks are pressed to 7” vinyl in batches of just 100 copies each, with every one given a unique sleeve selected from the submitted entries by creatives around the world.

This year, the tracks are: Aretha Franklin, One Step Ahead; Bob Dylan, Blind Willie McTell; Foo Fighters, This Is A Call; Koffee, Toast; Miles Davis, Miles Runs The Voodoo Down; The Internet, Come Over; and Vampire Weekend, Harmony Hall. The Foo Fighters’ track celebrates the band’s 25th anniversary, the song being its debut single from 1995. Submissions are now open until 10 March 2020.

A prestigious list of artists have taken part in the last six years, including David Shrigley, Jenny Holzer, Martin Parr, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Peter Blake, Morag Myerscough, Paul Smith, Anish Kapoor, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Es Devlin, Gilbert & George, Pennie Smith, Julian Opie, Polly Morgan, Antony Gormley and Yoko Ono.

The show was founded by Kevin King and Jordan Stokes in 2012, and – besides raising hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity – has become a beloved staple in London’s creative calendar, meaning many people will be sad to discover it’s the last one. However, Kevin says this year feels like the concept’s logical conclusion. “Ending on the seventh year feels wonderfully apt,” he says. “It’s been hard to come to this decision, but it was important to us that we broke the news upfront so that this year can be a proper celebration.”

Though the core format hasn’t changed over seven years, the team has learned lessons from each iteration, says King, and developed and grown each time. “By the end of this show, we’ll have made 4,900 one-of-a-kind records for 49 different tracks, and we’ll have raised over £250,000 for good causes. We’ve made some great friends, started some interesting conversations about the importance of creativity, and fulfilled many designers and artists’ dreams – to create artwork for a record.

“Most importantly, we’ve celebrated the power of art and music, and seen the impact they can have on people’s lives.”

So, if you’ve always wanted to be part of Secret 7” but haven’t so far, now is your last chance. Go to secret-7.com for more information on how to submit your design.

The final 700 selected artworks will be exhibited from 9-30 May 2020 at Now Gallery on Greenwich Peninsula. The public sale will take place 31 May 2020.