Latest Site News

[Liam.k.]

Official Most Downloaded James Bond Themes
By Justin Myers

Who gets to sing the theme tune for the latest James Bond movie is almost as big a deal as the films themselves, and getting the honour this time is our very own chart record-breaker Sam Smith.

The Writing's On The Wall will soundtrack 007's 24th adventure Spectre, in cinemas in October. No Bond theme tune has ever made it to Number 1, and Sam will be hoping to break that curse. As he waits to see where The Writing's On The Wall will end up, we take a look at the Top 23 (that's all if them so far!) most downloaded Bond tracks and also take a peak at what you've been streaming.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Adele is out in front with her Oscar-winning dramafest Skyfall, from 2012's movie. Skyfall was stopped form getting to Number 1 by Swedish House Mafia, sadly (for her, not them, obv) but still managed 24 weeks in the Top 40 and has sold over 808,000 downloads to boot. The sky's the limit.

Next up is the tune from the preceding movie Quantum Of Solace, which saw an all-star team-up between Alicia Keys and White Stripes' Jack White. The pair managed to take Another Way To Die into the Top 10, the 11th Bond theme to do so, and have shifted over 208,000 downloads.

Casino Royale's theme song You Know My Name from Chris Cornell comes in third, and behind that is an oldie but a true classic from Carly Simon. Nobody Does It Better was taken from 1977 movie The Spy Who Loved Me, starring Roger Moore, and hit Number 7.

Rounding off the Top 5 is a noisy classic, Live And Let Die, from the movie of the same name. Paul McCartney cemented his post-Beatles legendary status with Wings on this 1973 Top 10, which has been covered by everyone from Guns N Roses to Geri Halliwell. For REAL. Live And Let Die is, fact fans, the most streamed Bond theme, with over 1.24 million listens since we started counting in 2014.

Possibly the most famous Bond theme of all, Shirley Bassey's Goldfinger, has to settle for 8th place, behind Madonna's controversial 2002 theme for Die Another Day.

Here's how the Bond themes rank in download order.

TITLE ARTIST YEAR OF RELEASE
1 SKYFALL ADELE 2012
2 ANOTHER WAY TO DIE ALICIA KEYS & JACK WHITE 2008
3 YOU KNOW MY NAME CHRIS CORNELL 2006
4 NOBODY DOES IT BETTER CARLY SIMON 1977
5 LIVE AND LET DIE PAUL MCCARTNEY & WINGS 1973
6 A VIEW TO A KILL DURAN DURAN 1985
7 DIE ANOTHER DAY MADONNA 2002
8 GOLDFINGER SHIRLEY BASSEY 1964
9 THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS A-HA 1987
10 GOLDENEYE TINA TURNER 1995
11 FOR YOUR EYES ONLY SHEENA EASTON 1981
12 DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER SHIRLEY BASSEY 1971
13 LICENCE TO KILL GLADYS KNIGHT 1989
14 YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE NANCY SINATRA 1967
15 THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH GARBAGE 1999
16 FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE MATT MONRO 1963
17 TOMORROW NEVER DIES SHERYL CROW 1997
18 ALL TIME HIGH RITA COOLIDGE 1983
19 THUNDERBALL TOM JONES 1965
20 THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN LULU 1975
21 MOONRAKER SHIRLEY BASSEY 1979
22 JAMES BOND THEME JOHN BARRY ORCHESTRA 1963
23 WE HAVE ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD LOUIS ARMSTRONG 1969

©2015 Official Charts Company . All rights reserved.

And when it comes to streams, how do they shape up? Here's the Top 10. And, shock horror, no sign of Skyfall!

TITLE ARTIST
1 LIVE AND LET DIE PAUL MCCARTNEY & WINGS
2 A VIEW TO A KILL DURAN DURAN
3 YOU KNOW MY NAME CHRIS CORNELL
4 NOBODY DOES IT BETTER CARLY SIMON
5 ANOTHER WAY TO DIE ALICIA KEYS & JACK WHITE
6 GOLDFINGER SHIRLEY BASSEY
7 DIE ANOTHER DAY MADONNA
8 THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS A-HA
9 YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE NANCY SINATRA
10 GOLDENEYE TINA TURNER

©2015 Official Charts Company . All rights reserved.