Eilish\u2019s song has broken all sorts of records, making her the youngest person ever to write and perform a Bond theme, while the tune itself was the first 007 song by a female artist to top the UK charts.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a good job the song has been a success, as previous performers have included the likes of Shirley Bassey, Paul McCartney, Duran Duran, Madonna and Adele \u2013 with many of their numbers remaining iconic years later.<\/p>\n
With so many stirring spy songs to look back on, we\u2019ve compiled a list of every Bond theme song released so far, starting with Eilish and stretching all the way back to Monty Norman\u2019s iconic theme for Dr No in 1962.<\/p>\n
Billie Eilish \u2013 No Time to Die (2020)<\/h2>\n\n
Written by Eilish and her brother Finneas O\u2019Connell, the latest Bond theme song had its grand unveiling at the Brit Awards in February 2020 \u2013 only for the No Time To Die<\/a> film to be delayed 18 months to September 2021.<\/p>\n Nevertheless the song went on to achieve great success, topping the UK Singles Chart and winning a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media. Could an Oscar soon follow?<\/p>\n Prior to the announcement that Smith would be performing the theme song for 2015\u2019s Spectre, it had been heavily rumoured that Radiohead would be recording one \u2013 and indeed it later emerged that the band had had an effort turned down by the producers. Smith\u2019s Writing on the Wall, written with Jimmy Napes went on to notch both the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Song.<\/p>\n Probably the most well-known Bond theme song in recent years, Adele recorded Skyfall shortly after the massive success of her second album 21 \u2013 and the track became a huge hit, reaching number one in 11 different countries. It also has the honour of being the first Bond theme to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song, Brit Award for British Single of the Year, Critics\u2019 Choice Movie Award for Best Song, Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, and the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.<\/p>\n White Stripes frontman Jack White wrote the song for Quantum of Solace, sharing vocals with R&B superstar Alicia Keys. Like the film it soundtracked, the song had something of a mixed reception \u2013 with many commenters saying it was a strange fit as a Bond theme song.<\/p>\n The Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman\u2019s Bond theme for Casino Royale became arguably his best known song, and was highly praised in the media \u2013 with one critic labelling it \u201cthe best Bond theme since \u2018A View to a Kill.’\u201d It was seen by many as the ideal track to introduce Daniel Craig \u2013 who was making his first appearance as 007.<\/p>\n Producers apparently wanted a high profile singer to perform the theme tune for Pierce Brosnan\u2019s final turn as Bond \u2013 and it\u2019s safe to say they delivered. Despite something of a mixed critical reception, the song performed well in the charts and marked a significant departure from the more traditional style of previous Bond themes.<\/p>\n Scottish-American rock band Garbage were rather a big deal back in the late 1990s, and this only boosted their profile further. Relatively \u2018classic Bond\u2019 in style, the track was received warmly by most critics and reached number 11 in the UK charts.<\/p>\n This track was chosen by producers despite numerous other songs being solicited by producers, most notably by k.d lang, who\u2019s similarly-titled song was instead used over the end credits. Crow\u2019s song was one of the more poorly received in the franchise, but still managed to garner Golden Globe and Grammy nominations.<\/p>\n Written by U2 stars Bono and The Edge, GoldenEye was a huge hit for Tina Turner, particularly in Europe, later appearing on her album Wildest Dreams. The song was fairly conventional as Bond theme \u2013 unlike the film itself, which was the first not to be based on any of Ian Fleming\u2019s works.<\/p>\n Knight was enlisted to perform the song for License To Kill after an earlier plan to have Eric Clapton and original Bond theme guitarist Vic Flick write a theme fell through. A big hit in Europe, it was based on the horn line from Goldfinger and is the longest James bond theme to date \u2013 at 5 minutes 43 seconds.<\/p>\n Norwegian pop band A-ha were considered a rather unusual choice for a Bond theme, but this Europop number remains one of their more enduring hits. It was chosen for the theme after an earlier track by the Pet Shop Boys was rejected by the studio.<\/p>\n One of many themes to be written with legendary Bond composer John Barry, A View To A Kill was an enormous hit for the new wave band, making it to number two on the UK singles charts for three weeks and being nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.<\/p>\n All Time High was the theme for 1983\u2019s Octopussy and marked a return for John Barry after an absence from For Your Eyes Only. Apparently the song was not named after the film because it would have been too much of a challenge to write a song with the title Octopussy! It was the first Bond theme to have an accompanying music video.<\/p>\n Nominated for an Academy Award, this track written by Bill Conti was preferred to an alternative theme that had been recorded by Blondie. It was one of few Bond tracks at the time that John Barry had not been involved with and remains one of Easton\u2019s most well-known songs.<\/p>\n Bassey\u2019s third Bond theme had previously been offered to numerous stars including Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis and Kate Bush. It was recorded at very short notice, and for that reason Bassey has never considered it to be her own song \u2013 performing it far less frequently than her other two Bond themes.<\/p>\n This track from The Spy Who Loved Me was the first Bond theme not to be named after its corresponding film since Dr No. It was a major hit and was nominated for Golden Globe and Academy Awards, whilst in 2004 was listed as the 67th greatest film song ever by the American Film Institute.<\/p>\n John Barry considers this track to be his weakest musical contribution to the franchise, and is the only Bond theme not to have charted in either the UK or America. It is also considered by some to be one of the more raunchy numbers to have graced the series, with Lula warbling about villain Scaramanga\u2019s \u201cpowerful weapon\u201d. A-hem<\/em>.<\/p>\n Still one of the most iconic Bond themes, this notable track reunited McCartney with George Martin \u2013 who had produced many of The Beatles biggest hits and most famous albums. At the time of its release it was the best performing Bond song ever \u2013 charting at number two in the US and nine in the UK, and being nominated for the Best Song Oscar.<\/p>\n Another iconic title song (and Bassey\u2019s second entry to the Bond theme canon) this track was nonetheless despised by producer Harry Saltzman, allegedly due to the innuendo in the lyrics.<\/p>\n This was actually the secondary theme to On Her Majesty\u2019s Secret Service \u2013 there was also a self-titled orchestral number. The title is taken from the final words George Lazenby\u2019s Bond utters in the film.<\/p> Considered by many to be one of the best Bond themes, this track has been widely re-recorded \u2013 and is especially known for its striking opening, which has been described as \u201cperfection.\u201d<\/p>\n Jones allegedly fainted while singing the final high note of this song \u2013 which might not had been a Bond theme at all had the original track, titled Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (which had versions recorded by Dionne Warwick and Shirley Bassey) not fallen through.<\/p>\n The first of Bassey\u2019s three Bond theme songs and arguably still the most iconic, this was Bassey\u2019s only song to break the US top 40, and was named the 53rd best film song by the American Film Institute.<\/p>\n This was the first Bond film for which Barry was the primary composer, with the title song sung by popular cabaret singer Matt Monro. An instrumental version plays over the opening credits \u2013 the full song\u00a0is first heard in the film over a radio, before playing as the closing credits roll.<\/p>\n One of the most famous pieces of film music of all time, this has featured in every single Bond film in some form or another since it played over the opening credits of Dr No back in 1962. The definition of iconic!<\/p>\n No Time To Die was released in cinemas in the UK on 30th September \u2013 visit our Movies<\/a>\u00a0hub for more news and features, or find something to watch with our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n With Billie Eilish the latest star to soundtrack a Bond film, we take a look back at all the 007 themes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":5164,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/james-bond-every-theme-song-from-the-film-franchises-history-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/james-bond-every-theme-song-from-the-film-franchises-history-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/james-bond-every-theme-song-from-the-film-franchises-history-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/james-bond-every-theme-song-from-the-film-franchises-history-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/james-bond-every-theme-song-from-the-film-franchises-history-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/james-bond-every-theme-song-from-the-film-franchises-history-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/james-bond-every-theme-song-from-the-film-franchises-history-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"With Billie Eilish the latest star to soundtrack a Bond film, we take a look back at all the 007 themes.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/5163"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Sam Smith \u2013 Writing\u2019s on the Wall (2015)<\/h2>\n
Adele \u2013 Skyfall (2012)<\/h2>\n\n
Jack White and Alicia Keys \u2013 Another Way To Die (2008)<\/h2>\n
Chris Cornell \u2013 You Know My Name (2006)<\/h2>\n
Madonna \u2013 Die Another Day (2002)<\/h2>\n\n
Garbage \u2013 The World Is Not Enough (1999)<\/h2>\n
Sheryl Crow \u2013 Tomorrow Never Dies\u00a0(1997)<\/h2>\n
Tina Turner \u2013 GoldenEye (1995)<\/h2>\n
![\""Pierce\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2019\/08\/pierce-brosnan-goldeneye-a35d646.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C408"\" "\\"\"GoldenEye\"\\"")
<\/div> Gladys Knight \u2013 Licence To Kill (1989)<\/h2>\n
A-ha \u2013 The Living Daylights (1987)<\/h2>\n
Duran Duran \u2013 A View To A Kill (1985)<\/h2>\n\n
Rita Coolidge \u2013 All Time High (1983)<\/h2>\n
Sheena Easton \u2013 For Your Eyes Only (1981)<\/h2>\n
Shirley Bassey \u2013 Moonraker (1979)<\/h2>\n
![\""Shirley\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2020\/01\/GettyImages-494393724-165955f-scaled.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C427"\" "\\"\"Royal\\"")
<\/div>Carly Simon \u2013 Nobody Does It Better (1977)<\/h2>\n
Lulu \u2013 The Man With The Golden Gun (1974)<\/h2>\n
Paul McCartney & The Wings \u2013 Live and Let Die (1973)<\/h2>\n\n
Shirley Bassey \u2013 Diamonds Are Forever (1971)<\/h2>\n
Louis Armstrong \u2013 We Have All The Time in the World (1969)<\/h2>\n
Nancy Sinatra \u2013 You Only Live Twice (1967)<\/h2>\n
Tom Jones \u2013 Thunderball (1965)<\/h2>\n
![\""Tom\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/07\/gettyimages-1284967366-594x594-0aeb859.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"tom-jones-joins-cast-james-corden-mammals-newsupdate\"\\"")
<\/div>Shirley Bassey \u2013 Goldfinger (1964)<\/h2>\n
Matt Monro \u2013 From Russia with Love (1963)<\/h2>\n
John Barry & Orchestra, Monty Norman \u2013 James Bond Theme (1962)<\/h2>\n\n
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