It’s official. Soulful lady, Miss Mary J. Blige will be singing the National Anthem for the premiere game of the World Series tonight between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox.

And who better to sing the National Anthem at Fenway Park Thursday than Boston native and folk-rock extraordinaire, James Taylor? That’s right, the 65-year-old musician will be belting out the sacred song before the second game of the World Series on Thursday night.

Bronx native Blige is an old pro with experience singing the vocally-challenging anthem at Yankee Stadium during the 2009 Series.

But Blige isn’t the only singer with the musical-experience prowess when it comes to performing on such a momentous occasion.

Taylor sang the song twice, both in 2004 and 2007 for the Fall Classics at Fenway. He’s even performed the anthem for the NHL Winter Classic surely representing the Boston Bruins hockey team.

“It’s hard to believe for a Red Sox fan that we’re actually going back to the World Series,” Taylor told The Berkshire Eagle on Tuesday, “especially after last year. I guess the message is that Sox fans can never give up hope despite the roller coaster we’re usually on.”

And apparently Taylor is keeping up with the Sox, rocking that Boston beard. Will the rock legend be sporting the beard tomorrow, or will he take the razor to it? Looks like we’ll have to wait to see it on Thursday.

Tonight’s Game 1 airs at 8:07 p.m. on the Fox network.

Photo Credit: YouTube