Sam Smith is making good on all those Adele comparisons he received early on in his career by landing a James Bond song of his own. After initially denying that he was taking over the coveted theme-song duties from the “Skyfall” singer, Smith debuted on Friday the full version of “Writing’s on the Wall” from the upcoming Bond film Spectre, due in theaters Nov. 6. The sweeping ballad keeps it fairly traditional—you won’t find the glitched-out vocoder weirdness of Madonna’s “Die Another Day”—and it’s already gotten the approval of Sir Roger Moore, the actor who played 007 for seven movies between 1973 and 1985. You can get the track here.
See Every Singer of the Bond Theme Songs
Monty Norman is one of the composers, and also sang the theme of Dr. No.Topical Press Agency/Getty ImagesJohn Barry composed the scores many of the earlier Bond films.GAB Archive—Redferns/Getty ImagesMatt Morno, together with John Barry, sang the theme song for From Russia with Love.David Redfern—Getty ImagesShirley Bassey sang the theme songs for the films Goldfinger; Diamonds Are Forever and Moonraker.John Pratt—Getty ImagesTom Jones sang the theme song for the film Thunderball.Terry O'Neill—Getty ImagesNancy Sinatra sang the theme song for You Only Live Twice.Redferns/Getty ImagesLouis Armstrong sang the theme song for On Her Majesty's Secret Service.Afro Newspaper/Gado/Getty ImagesPaul McCartney and Wings sang the theme song for Live and Let Die.RB—Redferns/Getty ImagesLulu sang the theme song for The Man with the Golden Gun.CA/Redferns/Getty ImagesCarly Simon sang the theme song for The Spy Who Loved Me.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesSheena Easton sang the theme song for For Your Eyes Only.Doug McKenzie—Getty ImagesRita Coolidge sang the theme song for Octopussy.APDuran Duran sang the theme song for A View to Kill.Fin Costello—Redferns/Getty ImagesA-ha sang the theme song for The Living Daylights.Dave Hogan—Getty ImagesGladys Knight sang the theme song for License to Kill.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesTina Turner sang the theme song for GoldenEye.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesSheryl Crow sang the theme song for Tomorrow Never Dies.Michel Linssen—Redferns/Getty ImagesGarbage sang the theme song for The World is Not Enough.Mick Hutson—Redferns/Getty ImagesMadonna sang the theme song for Die Another Day.Frank Micelotta Archive/Getty ImagesChris Cornell of the band, Audioslave, sang the theme song for Casino Royale.Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty ImagesJack White, together with Alicia Keys, sang the theme song for Quantum of Solace.Matt Carr—Getty ImagesAlicia Keys, together with Jack White, sang the theme song for Quantum of Solace.Andreas Rentz—Getty ImagesAdele sang the theme song for SkyfallFred Duval—FilmMagicSam Smith sang the theme song for Spectre.Tord Litleskare—Getty Images
