Last week was a busy week for James Bond or at least for the much anticipated SPECTRE. In an announcement to the media and via all social media channels, Albert R. Broccoli’s EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, and Sony Pictures Entertainment confirmed that Sam Smith has in fact recorded “Writing’s On The Wall,” which will be the official the theme song to SPECTRE, the 24th James Bond adventure.
SPECTRE will first be unleashed with a UK release on October 26 and hot on its heals, the joyful noise will hit theaters the US on November 6. The song, released by Capitol Records, will debut and be available to purchase and stream on September 25.
Multi-platinum selling artist Sam Smith is no newcomer and understands the power of collaboration. To that end, he has co-written the title song, “Writing’s On The Wall,” with fellow GRAMMY Award winner Jimmy Napes. This marks a blast from the past, as a British male solo artist has not recorded a James Bond theme song since 1965. Smith’s debut album In The Lonely Hour launched at No. 1 in the UK and bowed in at No. 2 in the US, and has since earned five No.1 UK singles, four GRAMMY Awards, three Brit Awards, six MOBO Awards, Q and AMA Awards.
Commenting on the announcement, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, the producers of SPECTRE, said,
“Sam and Jimmy have written the most inspirational song for SPECTRE and with Sam’s extraordinary vocal performance, ‘Writing’s On The Wall’ will surely be considered one of the greatest Bond songs of all time.”
Smith said:
“This is one of the highlights of my career. I am honored to finally announce that I will be singing the next Bond theme song. I am so excited to be a part of this iconic British legacy and join an incredible line up of some of my biggest musical inspirations. I hope you all enjoy the song as much as I enjoyed making it.”
The 23 previous James Bond theme songs make up some of the most iconic movie music of all time. The previous Bond theme song, “Skyfall,” performed by Adele helped put movie music back on the map at a time when theme songs had simple lost their edge with audiences across the globe. In fact, “Skyfall” was honored with the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, the Brit Award for British Single of the Year, and the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.
It appears Bond is back and he never sounded better.