The name’s Bond, James Bond. The blockbuster spy franchise turned 60 years old this week with celebrations such as The Sound of 007 concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall on Tuesday (Oct. 4) and the premiere of a documentary of the same name the following day.
As the globe celebrated World Bond Day, Billboard looked back at the history of Bond movie theme songs and now we want to know which musical opener is your absolute favorite.
The most prolific singer of 007 themes, Shirley Bassey, started out crooning 1964’s “Goldfinger” and later added the 1971 classic “Diamonds Are Forever” to her arsenal of hits. In between those two tracks, Tom Jones and Nancy Sinatra were also recruited to sing the theme songs to, respectively, 1965’s Thunderball and 1967’s You Only Live Twice.
Throughout the next two decades, everyone from Paul McCartney & Wings (“Live and Let Die”) and Carly Simon (“Nobody Does It Better”) to Sheena Easton (“For Your Eyes Only”) and Rita Coolidge (“All Time High”) contributed their voices to the secret agent’s big screen adventures, though the Bond theme reached its apex on the Hot 100 when Duran Duran scored the franchise’s sole No. 1 hit with 1985’s “A View to a Kill.”
Following the new wave band’s success, the formula to a successful Bond theme shifted, with major stars such as Madonna, Sheryl Crow, Jack White and Alicia Keys vying for their own turns to record an original song — though the latter two remain the only pair to record one together in the form of 2008’s “Another Way to Die.”
Adele brought another level of prestige to the franchise when “Skyfall” won the Oscar for best original song in 2013 — a modern-day pattern replicated by Sam Smith‘s “Writing’s on the Wall” in 2016 and, most recently, Billie Eilish‘s “No Time to Die” in 2022.
Vote for your all-time favorite Bond theme in Billboard‘s poll below.
