James Bond No Time To Die: Top 10 best Bond theme songs of all time

The epic new instalment will be the 25th film about the 00 agent and will finally be hitting UK cinemas after a year of delays due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

No Time To Die takes place after Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica when his old friend Felix Leiter, played by Jeffrey Wright, from the CIA turns up asking for help.

A mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading to a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.

Craig is joined by the likes of Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Rami Malek and Lashana Lynch in an all-star cast.

Rami Malek will play Bon villain Safin in No Time To Die. (PA)

Who sings the theme tune to the new Bond film?

After chart success, 18-year-old Billie Eilish became the youngest ever artist to write and record a James Bond theme song with the unsettling hit, No Time To Die.

But does it make the top 10 list of all-time theme songs?

Top 10 James Bond theme tunes of all time

Here we rank the top 10 James Bond theme tunes of all time.

10. ‘For Your Eyes Only’ (Sheena Euston)

One of the few Bond themes to stand alone as a power ballad in its own right before Mr Shaken-Not-Stirred is even mentioned.

There’s a reason it features on every Mother’s Day compilation CD ever released.

Those of you born in the late ‘80s/early ‘90’s will have the lyrics ingrained into your brains from family trips in the back of your mum’s car.

9. ‘Writing’s On The Wall’ (Sam Smith)

Now this is a bit of a rogue choice. There was a bit of a “does it sound like a Bond theme?” debate when it was released in 2015 alongside Spectre.

But what does a Bond them sound like? There are so many different classics, all great for different reasons. For every soul power ballad there is a ‘You Only Live Twice’ or, more recently, a ‘No Time To Die’.

Sam Smith absolutely smashed their vocals out of the park with this one and for any doubters, it was the first Bond theme to go to number one in the UK.

8. ‘Diamond’s Are Forever’ – Shirley Bassey

The Bond franchise had hit a rough patch and called upon Sean Connery and Shirley Bassey to save the day with a return to the world of espionage.

We think it’s fair to say the film itself was bang average but the theme tune was a thing of beauty.

7. ‘Licence to Kill’ (Gladys Knight)

An underrated theme tune that brought the Bond era bang up to date in the ‘80s, albeit at the end of the decade, with a nod to the classic days of Shirley Bassey et al.

And that chorus must have been written with karaoke in mind, it’s impossible not to sing along.

6. ‘You Only Live Twice’ (Nancy Sinatra)

Those opening strings transcend generations, not least because they were famously sampled in Robbie Williams’ hit ‘Millenium’ 30 years later.

The song has been extensively covered by artists including Coldplay, Soft Cell, Bjork and Shirley Bassey.

This was the original melancholic Bond theme, and has inspired many after it.

Originally intended for Frank Sinatra, the Bond classic was delegated to his daughter and became an instant classic.

5. ‘Nobody does it better’ (Carly Simon)

We’ve all heard this on the juke box at last orders.

The soundtrack to Roger Moore’s third mission as 007 in The Spy Who Loved Me.

This song gets credit for being a brilliant singalong pop anthem in its own right, it’s not one that automatically makes you think of the Bond films.

This power ballad broke the tried and tested mould of Bond themes and received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations losing out to Debby Boone’s You Light Up My Life in 1978.

A good year for the ‘Best Original Song’ category.

4. ‘GoldenEye’ (Tina Turner)

It’s fair to say they played it safe with this one by picking the legendary soulful voice of Tina Turner to belt out this classic.

But it’s every bit as cinematic as anything produced in the James Bond franchise lending itself perfectly to the big screen.

Written by U2’s Bono and The Edge, it got Pierce Brosnan’s stint as 007 off to a fine start.

Big song, big voice, can’t fault it.

3. ‘Goldfinger’ (Shirley Bassey)

It doesn’t matter where you are or what you’re doing, if you hear the words “it’s the kiss of death, from Mr Goldfinger” to whole room will reply “ba baaa ba”.

This song made Bond theme songs what they are today.

Inspired by ‘Mack the Knife’, Bond themes were an afterthought until Goldfinger made the theme song integral to any new James Bond release.

2. ‘Skyfall’ (Adele)

It’s Adele. What more do you need?

Ok, if anyone needed further convincing that this is one of, if not the best Bond theme song of all time just look at the facts.

It became one of the best-selling records of all time, won an Oscar and is the most successful Bond theme ever. 

A perfect companion for Skyfall in 2012. 

1. ‘Live and Let Die’ (Wings)

This timeless classic has everything you want from a James Bond theme.

Written by Paul McCartney and his wife Linda, the track is possibly the music legend’s finest work as part of Wings.

Upon release, ‘Live and Let Die’ was the most successful Bond theme up to that point and reached number one in two of the three major US music charts as well as reaching number nine in the UK.

It will stand the test of time for as long as Hollywood keep churning out new adventures for Mr Bond.