BRITISH band BLAKE had teamed up with Dame Shirely Bassey for an upcoming Christmas single, entitled The Christmas Song.

Better known as Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire, it will be Shirley Bassey’s first ever Christmas single while also featuring on Blake’s new album, A Classic Christmas, released on November 20.

The band, which consists of Humphrey Berney, Stephen Bowman and Wiltshire’s Ollie Baines, formed after the school friends reunited on Facebook.

The album, a collection of timeless Christmas Songs including Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and Let it Snow, was funded through crowdfunding site PledgeMusic and a share of the proceeds raised will go to children’s charity Variety, of which Blake are ambassadors.

Dame Shirley explained how the collaboration came about: “Blake sang Moon River at my 70th birthday party, and then we met again at the reception of Variety’s 70th anniversary six months ago.

“Ollie mentioned singing a Christmas song together, and I said I’ve never done a Christmas song before.”

Blake thought about creating an original song for the collaboration but quickly realised that it had to be a classic to suit her iconic voice.

“We listened to Dame Shirley's most recent recordings”, said Ollie. “As well as her past albums, watched a lot of YouTube clips from dozens of live shows, and then started to compile a short list of about five songs.

“We felt sure that Dame Shirley could make a hit out of any of the songs on our list, so we sent it over and let her choose the one that she liked best – which was The Christmas Song.”

After recording the song Dame Shirley said “I was quite overwhelmed because it just fits my voice so well. I was amazed how well our voices blended… I would love to have a Christmas number one.”

  • A Classic Christmas is available to buy now and Blake are touring the UK throughout November and December. For more information about the band and dates of gigs visit www.blakeofficial.com