Dame Shirley Bassey to make first-ever Oscars appearance

Via: The Official Blog of the 85th Academy Awards

Credit: oscar.go.com

Oscar producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced today that Dame Shirley Bassey will be making a special appearance at the Academy Awards on Feb 24.

The singer, best known to US audiences as the singer behind the themes for James Bond films Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever and Moonraker, was most recently seen performing at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert alongside such revered performers as Paul McCartney and Elton John. Bassey is celebrating a "Diamond Jubilee" of her own this year, as her career now spans over six decades - a career that includes 44 albums, 135 million records sold worldwide, and innumerable sold out performances in concert halls around the globe.

“We are thrilled to welcome the legendary Dame Shirley Bassey to our Oscar show,” said Zadan and Meron. “Her association with film music is world renowned and we are proud that she will be making her first Oscar appearance on our telecast.”

Bassey joins an A-list assortment of performers including Adele, Norah Jones and Barbra Streisand; and presenters including “The Avengers” cast members Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo; returning 2011 Oscar winners Jean Dujardin, Christopher Plummer, Octavia Spencer and Meryl Streep; co-stars Mark Wahlberg and Ted; and special guest appearances including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Daniel Radcliffe, Channing Tatum and Charlize Theron.

This is a HUGE get for the Academy, and I would imagine she'll be part of the 50th Anniversary tribute to James Bond on the telecast, which is the moment on the telecast I'm most looking forward to right now.