James Bond music

The "James Bond Theme" is the main theme for Dr. No, and has featured in all the Eon Productions Bond films in different versions. The theme has also featured on the gun barrel sequences at the beginning of the films. The original theme was written by Monty Norman, and was performed by John Barry and his orchestra in 1962. In the opening credits of Dr. No, two other pieces were played: an untitled bongo interlude and a Calypso-flavored rendition of "Three Blind Mice", titled "Kingston Calypso". Due to this, Dr. No is the only film to have more than one opening theme. The "James Bond Theme" reached No. 13 in the UK Singles Chart, and remained in the charts for 13 weeks.[4]

The opening credits of From Russia with Love were accompanied by an instrumental version of the main theme, arranged by John Barry and written by Lionel Bart. A single by The John Barry Orchestra reached No. 39 in the U.K. At the film's end, a vocal version by English singer Matt Monro is heard. This song spent 13 weeks in the U.K. charts, peaking at No. 20.[4]

Goldfinger was the third soundtrack composed by John Barry, and this time the theme song had lyrics written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse. The soundtrack reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and spent 70 weeks on the charts.[5] It also peaked at No. 14 on the UK Albums Chart,[4] and received the Bond series first Grammy Award nomination, Best Original Score from a Motion Picture or Television Show.[6]

Welsh singer Shirley Bassey is the only singer to perform more than one Bond theme – she recorded the themes to Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever, and Moonraker. Bassey also recorded her own versions of "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" for Thunderball and it was rumoured that "No Good About Goodbye" was intended for Quantum of Solace, however David Arnold said 'No Good About Goodbye' was never intended as a Bond song.[7]

Paul McCartney's performance of "Live and Let Die" was the first Bond theme song to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song; it reached No. 2 as a U.S. single, and No. 9 on the U.K. charts.[4][5] George Martin's work in the song won the Grammy for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists.[8]

Marvin Hamlisch's (music) and Carole Bayer Sager's (lyrics) "Nobody Does It Better" (performed by Carly Simon) received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, as did Bill Conti's "For Your Eyes Only", which was performed by Sheena Easton.

It was not until the 2013 Oscars that a Bond theme song finally won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the theme song from Skyfall by Adele. Thomas Newman's score also got the first nomination for Academy Award for Best Original Score in the series since Hamlisch's own for The Spy Who Loved Me, while winning the Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. Adele's song also won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.[9] Sam Smith's "Writing's on the Wall" from Spectre and Billie Eilish's "No Time to Die" from the film of the same name would also win Oscars for Best Original Song.

Duran Duran and John Barry's "A View To A Kill" topped the singles charts in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, the only Bond theme to hit No. 1 in the United States.[5] No James Bond theme had topped the charts in the UK until Sam Smith's "Writing's on the Wall" entered the charts at number one on 2 October 2015.[10]

Several of the later films have alternative theme songs, often during the closing credits. The Living Daylights featured The Pretenders performing "If There Was a Man," composed by John Barry with Chrissie Hynde. Licence to Kill has "If You Asked Me To" sung by Patti LaBelle. GoldenEye featured Éric Serra's "The Experience of Love". Tomorrow Never Dies included k.d. lang's "Surrender" during the closing credits, a song which was originally proposed by composer David Arnold to be the title sequence theme instead of the Sheryl Crow title song. The "Surrender" theme is heard throughout the score while the melody of Sheryl Crow's song is not used again during the film. This harks back to the Thunderball soundtrack, where "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" was originally proposed as the opening credits music, only to be replaced by the eponymous title track as sung by Tom Jones.[11]

On Her Majesty's Secret Service featured an instrumental theme tune, something which remains unique amongst the post–From Russia with Love films, and included a vocal theme in the form of Louis Armstrong's performance of "We Have All the Time in the World", written by John Barry and Hal David.

• A song titled "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" sung by Shirley Bassey was originally slated to be the theme song of Thunderball. It was re-recorded by Dionne Warwick, but Albert Broccoli insisted the theme song must include the film's title and also decided that the lyrics should not start before the film's title Thunderball appears on-screen. A new song was composed and recorded at the eleventh hour titled "Thunderball", performed by Tom Jones. The melody of "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" remains a major component of the film score.[13]
• The songs "Three Blind Mice" (Dr No), "All Time High" (Octopussy), "You Know My Name" (Casino Royale), "Another Way to Die" (Quantum of Solace) and "Writing's on the Wall" (Spectre) do not feature the title of its film either in the song title or lyrics (although "Another Way to Die" features the word "solace" in the second stanza). While not named after the film, "Nobody Does It Better" does feature the line "the spy who loved me" in its lyrics.[14]
• "You Know My Name", "Skyfall",[15] and "Writing's on the Wall" do not appear on their respective films' soundtrack albums, having been released as standalone singles instead.
• "No Time to Die" was released in February 2020 when the movie was scheduled to be released in April 2020. The movie release was delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic to Fall of 2021.

A number of Bond films include one (or more) additional songs in the soundtrack. Some of these pieces of music, such as "We Have All the Time in the World" by Louis Armstrong, have gone on to become as well known as the main themes, while other songs remain exclusively linked to the film in which they appear.

• Dionne Warwick's performance of "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" is never actually heard in Thunderball; it was originally intended to have been the opening credits theme, but this was changed when Albert Broccoli decreed the theme had to include the film's title. The melody of "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" is heard throughout the film; Warwick's version was finally released in the 1990s.
• The original end title theme to The World Is Not Enough was "Only Myself to Blame", composed by David Arnold and Don Black, and sung by Scott Walker, but was left out of the final film and replaced by an Arnold arrangement of the "James Bond Theme". "Blame" was, however, left on The World Is Not Enough soundtrack album, and its melody, representing the Elektra King character, appears throughout The World Is Not Enough score, most prominently in the tracks "Casino" and "Elektra's Theme".
• Matt Monro's vocal rendition of "From Russia with Love" is often considered the official theme song for that film, even though the opening credits use an instrumental version that also incorporates the "James Bond Theme". Monro's version isn't heard until about 15 minutes into the film over a radio as source music, and again over the closing titles.

Some songs have been dubbed for the foreign versions of the films.

• "Goldfinger" was sung in Spanish by Karina (María Isabel Llaudes Santiago), a French version was sung by both John William and Catherine Elia and an Italian version was recorded by Vanna Scotti.
• "Feuerball" sung by Alan Corb was, in 1965, the German Cover version of "Thunderball" (sung by Tom Jones). The B-side of the single contained a German version, also sung by Alan Corb, of "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" with that title, creating the bizarre situation that a vocal 'cover' version of the song was published before the original vocal version(s) (sung by both by Shirley Bassey and Dionne Warwick), which were both published in the early 1990s with The Best of James Bond 30th Anniversary and 30th Anniversary Limited Edition albums.
• "Man Lebt Nur Zweimal" sung by Gissy André was, in 1967, the German Cover version of "You Only Live Twice" (sung by Nancy Sinatra).
• "Tu vivras deux fois" sung by Lucky Blondo was, in 1967, the French Cover version of "You Only Live Twice" (sung by Nancy Sinatra).
• "In Deinen Augen", sung by Sollie Nero, was, in 1981, the German Cover version of "For Your Eyes Only" (sung by Sheena Easton).

• The closing credits of Casino Royale use a vocal version of "Casino Royale" sung by Mike Redway, who remained uncredited until the release of the 2012 '45th anniversary' edition of the soundtrack.

• The soundtrack to the 1967 spoof Casino Royale also included two short comedic songs sung in a 1920s style. One led into an instrumental version of "The Look of Love" and began with the line "James Bond playing at Casino Royale..."; later, this tune was reprised as "Seven James Bonds at Casino Royale", which leads into a lyrical version of the theme sung by Mike Redway that played over the closing credits.
• "The Look of Love" was the first song from any Bond film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, six years before the first nomination from an Eon Bond film. It remains the only song from a non-Eon Bond film so nominated.