Ever since the groundbreaking success of Shirley Bassey’s Goldfinger theme song, every movie in the James Bond franchise has featured an original theme by a contemporary pop artist over the opening credits (except for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, which had a John Barry composition over the opening titles and a love theme in the middle of the movie).
Some of these themes have become iconic, topping the charts upon release and remaining popular to this day, while others have been dreadful, hated on their movie’s opening weekend and then forgotten instantly. So, we’ve ranked all the Bond themes from worst to best.
22 “Die Another Day” By Madonna
Madonna is one of the most popular artists in the world, but she really dropped the ball when she was tapped to record a theme song for Die Another Day. This could’ve been Madonna’s comeback vehicle, but she squandered the opportunity by churning out a generic dance song with auto-tuned vocals, nonsensical lyrics, and no connection whatsoever to James Bond.
21 “The Man With The Golden Gun” By Lulu
Bond composer John Barry has confessed that Lulu’s theme song for The Man with the Golden Gun is his least favorite of all the Bond themes. Bond themes have always contained double entendres, but Lulu’s track is pretty on-the-nose about its focus on 007’s, ahem, golden gun.
20 “Thunderball” By Tom Jones
In theory, Tom Jones is a great fit for a Bond theme, and if he’d been recruited a few movies later, he probably could’ve delivered a great one. After the success of Shirley Bassey’s Goldfinger theme, the 007 producers decided to hire a popular singer to sing an original theme for every subsequent movie.
But before they realized the key to making that work was letting the singer marry their own style with the Bond style, the producers tapped Tom Jones to play it safe with a Shirley Bassey-esque track for Thunderball, which didn’t work at all.
19 “Writing’s On The Wall” By Sam Smith (From Spectre)
When Sam Smith was hired to sing a theme song for the Daniel Craig Bond outing Spectre, he didn’t come up with a Bond theme in the Sam Smith style; he just came up with a generic Sam Smith song. “Writing’s on the Wall” sounds nothing like a Bond theme and its lyrics have nothing to do with the movie’s admittedly muddled plot.
18 “The Living Daylights” By A-Ha
The flashy synths in A-Ha’s theme song for The Living Daylights felt wildly out of place in a Bond movie, especially Timothy Dalton’s first outing as 007, which marked a shift toward a darker, edgier tone.
17 “Tomorrow Never Dies” By Sheryl Crow
When it was announced that Sheryl Crow would sing the theme for Pierce Brosnan’s second outing as 007, she was deemed an odd choice for a Bond theme. These doubts turned out to be well-placed when Crow turned out a dreary, instantly forgettable track.
16 “Another Way To Die” By Jack White And Alicia Keys (From Quantum Of Solace)
Jack White and Alicia Keys joined forces to give Quantum of Solace its theme song, “Another Way to Die.” It’s a catchy rock tune, but like the movie it’s attached to, it’s pretty generic compared to the franchise’s finest offerings.
15 “For Your Eyes Only” By Sheena Easton
While it’s not as unbearable as the absolute worst Bond themes, Sheena Easton’s For Your Eyes Only theme doesn’t come close to scraping the heights of the greats. It’s just a regular Sheena Easton song; it even borders on sounding like a spoof of a Sheena Easton song.
14 “Moonraker” By Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey experienced the inverse of “third time lucky” with her Bond theme history. After recording two of the franchise’s greatest theme songs, she sang a third one for Moonraker that sorely lacked the previous tracks’ oomph and staying power.
13 “A View To A Kill” By Duran Duran
Although A View to a Kill is one of the worst Bond movies on the whole, it has a pretty great theme by Duran Duran. “A View to a Kill” is pure ‘80s-era new wave, but hasn’t aged as badly as the rest of the genre.