46 Fun Facts About James Bond Theme Songs

John Barry arranged the James Bond Theme, but which composer sued a newspaper for saying he didn't write it?

Monty Norman won £30,000 libel damages in 2001; Barry had taken a flat £250 fee, leaving Norman the songwriting credit.

Which singer is the only person to have performed more than one Bond theme?

Shirley Bassey sang Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever and Moonraker, and she held Goldfinger's final note so long that she nearly passed out.

Which was the first Bond theme to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song?

Skyfall won Adele the Oscar in 2013, a first for a Bond theme, though she had at first been hesitant to take on a Bond song.

Which Bond theme was the first US Billboard Hot 100 number one?

A View to a Kill by Duran Duran came about, as the band tells it, after bassist John Taylor drunkenly asked producer Cubby Broccoli at a party about doing a theme.

Which was the first Bond theme to reach number one on the UK singles chart?

Writing's on the Wall split opinion on release, yet in October 2015 it became the first Bond theme to reach number one in the UK.

Which band sang the title song for the 1999 Bond film The World Is Not Enough?

Garbage were on a world tour while the song was being made, so the band worked on it with the film's composer over the phone.

Who sang the vocal version of 'From Russia with Love' heard at the film's end?

Matt Monro's vocal version of Lionel Bart's 'From Russia with Love' plays over the end titles; the opening used John Barry's instrumental arrangement.

Which lyricists wrote 'Goldfinger'?

Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse wrote the words to John Barry's tune, and Newley himself sang on Barry's first demo of Goldfinger.

Which Bond producer objected that the lyric of Diamonds Are Forever was too sexually suggestive?

Harry Saltzman found the lyric distasteful and wanted it rewritten, but his partner Albert R. Broccoli approved the song and it stayed in the film.

Director Guy Hamilton played John Barry which song as a gritty model for Goldfinger?

Mack the Knife was Hamilton's guide to the feel he wanted, and the lyricists then wrote Goldfinger's words without reading the script.

Who sang the last-minute Thunderball title song after 'Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' was dropped?

Tom Jones stepped in once the film's title had to be in the song, and he reportedly fainted after holding its long final note.

Who sang 'If You Asked Me To' over the end credits of the 1989 Bond film Licence to Kill?

Patti LaBelle's version stalled at No. 79 on the US Hot 100, but Celine Dion's 1992 cover of the song climbed all the way to No. 4.

Who performed 'You Only Live Twice' (1967)?

Nancy Sinatra got the job even though John Barry had wanted Aretha Franklin and producer Cubby Broccoli had wanted her father, Frank.

Which Bond film has an instrumental title theme, with Louis Armstrong singing elsewhere in it?

On Her Majesty's Secret Service opens with a John Barry instrumental, and Louis Armstrong's love song from it became a hit in 1994 after a Guinness advert.

Who wrote the lyrics for 'Diamonds Are Forever' and later 'The World Is Not Enough'?

Don Black's first Bond lyric was Thunderball, written in a rush after the original theme was dropped, and he went on to write five Bond songs.

'Live and Let Die' reunited Paul McCartney with which producer, who won a Grammy for its arrangement?

George Martin long told how the producers wanted a woman to sing it, but contracts show Wings were always booked for the opening titles.

Which singer performed 'The Man with the Golden Gun', the 1974 Bond theme?

Lulu sang it, yet its composer, John Barry, later admitted it was the Bond theme he hated most.

Who composed the music for Carly Simon's theme to The Spy Who Loved Me?

Marvin Hamlisch wrote it with Carole Bayer Sager, and their real-life romance loosely inspired the Broadway musical They're Playing Our Song.

Which Bond theme did Radiohead cover live on their mid-1990s tours?

Nobody Does It Better was a favourite in Radiohead's sets, and Thom Yorke told one 1995 crowd it was the sexiest song ever written.

Which Scottish singer performed 'For Your Eyes Only' and appeared on screen in the titles?

Title designer Maurice Binder liked Sheena Easton's look so much that he put her on screen, singing, in the opening titles.

Which band had a title song rejected for For Your Eyes Only in favour of Bill Conti's?

Blondie's own 'For Your Eyes Only' was turned down when the producers preferred Bill Conti's song; Blondie released theirs on the 1982 album The Hunter.

Rita Coolidge's Octopussy theme, with lyrics by Tim Rice, was titled what?

All Time High went to Rita Coolidge because, as she tells it, producer Cubby Broccoli's daughter Barbara, a big fan, steered her father to her.

Which singer says she wrote her song '24' for the 2015 Bond film, only for the producers to reject it?

Lana Del Rey's rejected song ended up on her 2015 album Honeymoon, and in 2026 she finally sang a Bond theme, for the game 007 First Light.

Which act recorded the 1987 Bond theme with John Barry?

a-ha clashed with John Barry, who reportedly compared them to the Hitler Youth.

Who sang 'Licence to Kill' in 1989?

Gladys Knight's Licence to Kill borrowed so heavily from Goldfinger that the older song's writers had to share in its credit.

'GoldenEye', sung by Tina Turner, was written by which pair?

Bono and the Edge wrote GoldenEye especially for Tina Turner, after they learned she had been offered the Bond theme.

Which k.d. lang song was moved from Tomorrow Never Dies' title sequence to its end credits?

k.d. lang's 'Surrender' was moved to the end credits when Sheryl Crow's song took Tomorrow Never Dies' titles; the film's score weaves its melody throughout.

Which singer's end-credits song 'Only Myself to Blame' was dropped from The World Is Not Enough?

Scott Walker's 'Only Myself to Blame' was cut from The World Is Not Enough's end credits but survived on the soundtrack album, its melody standing for Elektra King in the score.

Die Another Day, the 2002 Bond theme, was co-written and co-produced with which French producer?

Mirwais Ahmadzaï had first produced its singer on the 2000 album Music, and Die Another Day became a US top-ten hit despite plenty of criticism.

Which grunge frontman performed the Casino Royale (2006) theme?

Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Audioslave sang 'You Know My Name'; it was left off the soundtrack album and appeared on his 2007 solo record Carry On.

Which R&B star recorded Quantum of Solace's theme with Jack White, the first duet in Bond soundtrack history?

Alicia Keys got the job after Amy Winehouse, who had been linked to the song first, never completed her own attempt at it.

What did a Bond theme's release on 5 October 2012 mark?

Global James Bond Day marked 50 years since Dr. No opened, and the singer had read the whole script before agreeing to write the song.

Sam Smith co-wrote the theme for the 2015 Bond film with which songwriter?

Jimmy Napes shared the Oscar with Smith, whose speech wrongly suggested no openly gay man had won an Oscar before; several had.

Which song did Radiohead give away free on Christmas Day after the Bond producers passed on it?

Spectre came out free on Christmas Day 2015, months after a bookmaker had suspended betting when someone tried to stake £15,000 on Radiohead.

Which singer released a Bond theme in 2020 and became the youngest artist ever to record one?

Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas worked the song up over about three days, recording the demo in a bunk on their tour bus.

Which Bond title-song singer was the first to also play a role in a Bond film?

Madonna played Verity, a fencing instructor in Die Another Day, and greeted Bond with the line 'I see you handle your weapon well.'

Which film gave John Barry his first full Bond score?

From Russia with Love was Barry's first full Bond score, a big step up from Dr. No, where he had been brought in late just to rework the theme.

Which session guitarist played the famous twangy riff on the original 'James Bond Theme' recording?

Vic Flick knew John Barry from his band, the John Barry Seven, and played the riff on a Clifford Essex Paragon De Luxe guitar.

Which composer scored the Bond films released in 2012 and 2015?

Thomas Newman got the job because director Sam Mendes insisted on his regular composer, a partner of his since American Beauty.

Which composer scored five Bond films in a row, from 1997 to 2008?

David Arnold is said to have landed the job on the strength of Shaken and Stirred, his 1997 album of new versions of Bond themes.

Which composer scored GoldenEye (1995)?

Éric Serra scored GoldenEye, but the producers dropped his music for the St Petersburg tank chase and had John Altman provide new music.

Which Bond film's end credits featured The Pretenders singing 'If There Was a Man'?

The Living Daylights used a second Pretenders song too, Where Has Everybody Gone, as the music on henchman Necros's Walkman.

The 'James Bond Theme' grew out of a song its composer wrote for a musical adaptation of which V. S. Naipaul novel?

A House for Mr Biswas was the novel, but the musical was abandoned before it reached the stage, so its composer recycled the tune.

Who wrote the lyrics to 'We Have All the Time in the World', sung by Louis Armstrong?

Hal David's lyric takes its title from Bond's last words after his wife is killed, and John Barry chose Louis Armstrong to deliver that line with irony.

Which rock act offered the Bond producers its own 'The Man with the Golden Gun', only to be passed over?

Alice Cooper says his song arrived a day too late, after the producers had already signed up another singer's theme for the film.

Brian Wilson's intended Bond theme 'Run James Run' ended up as the title track of which album?

Brian Wilson said the band doubted it would ever reach the Bond producers, so Run James Run went on the album as Pet Sounds.