Dame Shirley Bassey is now officially part of the Harry Potter universe, decades after inspiring a cult favourite character.
The Welsh singer has contributed three original songs to the Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions, a new audio version of the famous book series produced by Pottermore and Audible. Check out an exclusive preview clip of “You Stole My Cauldron But You Can’t Have My Heart” here.
Bassey was the original inspiration for the character Celestina Warbeck when J.K. Rowling was writing the novel series and has made appearances in books, video games and more. Writing in 2015, Rowling said that “Celestina is one of my favourite ‘off-stage’ characters in the whole series,” and that she “always imagined her to resemble Shirley Bassey in both looks and style.”
Speaking on the casting, Bassey says: “I’m honoured to have been an inspiration for the original character of Celestina Warbeck in the Harry Potter series. Bringing her music to life in this ambitious project from Pottermore Publishing and Audible was a joy, and I hope these songs throughout the audiobooks offer a truly magical listening experience for fans worldwide.”
Three original songs for the series, blending her iconic voice with a 17-piece big band. She recorded her parts at Miraval Studios in France, with the band recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London. Bassey released her most recent original music in 2020 on the LP I Owe It All To You.
The songs appear in the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets audio cast which is released on Tuesday (Dec. 16).
Bassey is the latest A-list star to join the new Audible productions, which will continue to be released over the coming months. The cast is led by Hugh Laurie, who voices Albus Dumbledore, with Matthew Macfadyen as Lord Voldemort, Riz Ahmed as Professor Snape and Michelle Gomez as Professor McGonagall.
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