Red Nose Day: Sam Smith and John Legend release Lay Me Down duet for Comic Relief

British pop sensation Sam Smith has kicked his plans for world domination up a notch by collaborating with John Legend, one of America's biggest stars. The 22-year-old singer songwriter has released a special version of his single Lay Me Down featuring Legend for Comic Relief.

Smith said it was a dream come true working with the All Of Me hitmaker in Los Angeles earlier this year, revealing that song choice was very significant.

"Lay Me Down holds a very special place in my heart," he told the BBC. "Not only did I perform it at the Brits, I'm now going to perform it live on the Red Nose Day show with the extremely talented John Legend.

"I recently visited a Comic Relief-funded project in my hometown which supports the young LGBT community in London.

"I'm extremely proud that my single will help raise money for projects like this and many others in the UK and across Africa."

Legend, who won the Oscar for best original song with rapper Common for their song Glory from the Martin Luther King biopic Selma, added: "Sam is such a talented artist. We've been looking forward to working together for a while now. I'm so glad we could collaborate on such a great song and for such a great cause."

Smith and Legend will take to the stage on 13 March to perform the ballad on Comic Relief - Face The Funny. The one-off performance will be broadcast live on BBC One from the London Palladium.

A digital download version of the track, produced by Jimmy Napes and Steve Fitzmaurice, is available on iTunes and the single can be bought at Sainsbury's.