50 free James Bond Theme Songs trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This James Bond theme songs trivia quiz covers the music of every Eon film from Dr. No to No Time to Die. It asks who wrote and sang each theme — Shirley Bassey's three, Nancy Sinatra, Wings, Carly Simon, Sheena Easton, Duran Duran, a-ha, Gladys Knight, Tina Turner, Garbage, Madonna, Chris Cornell, Adele, Sam Smith and Billie Eilish — plus the composers behind them, from Monty Norman's disputed riff and John Barry's eleven scores to David Arnold and Hans Zimmer. It also collects the stories: the producer who hated 'Goldfinger', the abandoned 'Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang', the k.d. lang song demoted to the end credits, Blondie's and Radiohead's rejected submissions, the only duet, the youngest singer and which songs finally won Oscars and topped the charts. Roughly a third of the questions are easy for casual fans; the rest reward serious Bond obsessives. Note that we ask about the songs, not their words — no lyrics are quoted. Our main James Bond page covers the films themselves. Every answer has been checked against Wikipedia's articles on the songs and their sources, and each explanation adds one more thing worth knowing.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who composed the 'James Bond Theme' first heard in Dr. No (1962)?
Monty Norman
John Barry arranged and performed it and later claimed authorship, but Norman won two libel actions, the last against The Sunday Times in 2001.
Q 02Which singer is the only person to have performed more than one Bond theme?
Shirley Bassey
She sang Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever and Moonraker, and also recorded her own 'Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'.
Q 03Which was the first Bond theme to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song, in 2013?
Skyfall
It took until 2013; Sam Smith and Billie Eilish then made it three in a row.
Q 04Which is the only Bond theme to have reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100?
A View to a Kill by Duran Duran
In the UK it was stuck at number two for three weeks behind Paul Hardcastle's '19'.
Q 05Which was the first Bond theme to reach number one on the UK singles chart?
Writing's on the Wall
Sam Smith's song entered at number one on 2 October 2015; Billie Eilish's later debuted at the top too.
Q 06Which Bond film has more than one opening theme, including a calypso 'Three Blind Mice'?
Dr. No
'Kingston Calypso' and a bongo interlude played alongside the main theme, which reached No. 13 in the UK.
Q 07Who sang the vocal version of 'From Russia with Love' heard at the film's end?
Matt Monro
The opening titles used an instrumental by John Barry; the song was written by Lionel Bart.
Q 08Which lyricists wrote 'Goldfinger'?
Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse
They were shown no footage, only told about the girl killed by gilding; the Midas idea unlocked the lyric within days.
Q 09Which producer called 'Goldfinger' 'the worst song I've ever heard in my life'?
Harry Saltzman
It went on to give Bassey her only US top-40 hit and the Grammy Hall of Fame inducted it in 2008.
Q 10Director Guy Hamilton played John Barry which song as a 'gritty and rough' model for 'Goldfinger'?
Mack the Knife
The Goldfinger soundtrack topped the Billboard 200 and earned the series its first Grammy nomination.
Q 11Who sang the last-minute Thunderball title song after 'Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' was dropped?
Tom Jones
Broccoli insisted the theme must contain the film's title, and that the vocals not begin before the title appeared on screen.
Q 12Which two singers recorded 'Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang', the abandoned original Thunderball theme?
Shirley Bassey and Dionne Warwick
Neither version is heard in the film, though the melody runs through the score; they were finally released in the 1990s.
Q 13Who performed 'You Only Live Twice' (1967)?
Nancy Sinatra
Q 21Which Scottish singer performed 'For Your Eyes Only' and appeared on screen in the titles?
Sheena Easton
Conti had Donna Summer or Dusty Springfield in mind, and Blondie's submission was rejected.
Q 22Which band had a title song rejected for For Your Eyes Only in favour of Bill Conti's?
Blondie
Conti's song was nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar and a Golden Globe.
Q 23Rita Coolidge's Octopussy theme, with lyrics by Tim Rice, was titled what?
All Time High
John Barry wanted Don Black but he was busy with the musical Merlin, so Rice stepped in.
Cubby Broccoli wanted her father Frank; the song's opening violin bars borrow a melody from Tcherepnin's First Piano Concerto.
Q 14Which Bond film has an instrumental title theme, with Louis Armstrong singing elsewhere in it?
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
'We Have All the Time in the World' was written by John Barry and Hal David.
Q 15Who wrote the lyrics for 'Diamonds Are Forever' and later 'The World Is Not Enough'?
Don Black
He also wrote Thunderball and The Man with the Golden Gun, four Bond songs in all before Garbage's 1999 theme.
Q 16'Live and Let Die' reunited Paul McCartney with which producer, who won a Grammy for its arrangement?
George Martin
It was the first rock song to open a Bond film and the first Bond theme nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar.
Q 17Which singer performed 'The Man with the Golden Gun', the only Bond title track to miss both UK and US charts?
Lulu
John Barry called it 'the one I hate most'; its lyrics were notably suggestive.
Q 18'Nobody Does It Better' from The Spy Who Loved Me was composed by whom?
Marvin Hamlisch
Carole Bayer Sager wrote the words and Carly Simon sang it; it spent three weeks at No. 2 in the US behind Debby Boone.
Q 19'Nobody Does It Better' was the first Bond theme since Dr. No to do what?
Have a title different from the film's
It still slips the film's name into the lyric.
Q 20Which singers were considered for or offered 'Moonraker' before the eventual singer?
Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis and Kate Bush
Mathis withdrew, Paul Williams cut a version with different lyrics, and Kate Bush declined because of her Tour of Life.
Q 24Duran Duran performed 'A View to a Kill' at which 1985 concert, their last together before splitting?
Live Aid in Philadelphia
It was the last track recorded by the classic line-up until their 2001 reunion.
Q 25Which Norwegian band recorded the 1987 Bond theme with John Barry, who found it exhausting?
a-ha
Pål Waaktaar wrote it; the band re-recorded it for their album Stay on These Roads.
Q 26Who sang 'Licence to Kill' in 1989?
Gladys Knight
It topped the Swedish chart for eight weeks; Patti LaBelle sang the end-credits song 'If You Asked Me To'.
Q 27'GoldenEye', sung by Tina Turner, was written by which pair?
Bono and the Edge
Nellee Hooper produced it and it reached number 10 in the UK.
Q 28Which k.d. lang song was moved from Tomorrow Never Dies' title sequence to its end credits?
Surrender
Sheryl Crow's song took the titles, but David Arnold's score uses lang's melody throughout.
Q 29Which band performed 'The World Is Not Enough' in 1999?
Garbage
David Arnold and Don Black wrote it; the band recorded most of it on tour, phoning Arnold as he cut the orchestra in London.
Q 30Which singer's end-credits song 'Only Myself to Blame' was dropped from The World Is Not Enough?
Scott Walker
It survived on the soundtrack album, and its melody represents Elektra King throughout the score.