After the revolving door situation with directors coming and going (finally settling on an American, Cary Fukunaga), the on-set issues, the behind-the-scenes script drama, and the late change to the composer, there’s nothing that “No Time to Die” could do that would shock me. And yet, even after all the rumors seemed to indicate that this was happening, today’s announcement of Billie Eilish as the performer of the new James Bond theme song is pretty surprising.
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As was announced on Twitter today, Eilish is the singer chosen to perform the newest Bond theme song for the upcoming “No Time to Die.” She’ll be working with her brother to co-write the single. (She collaborates with her brother for all her music, so this isn’t shocking, at all.) And considering Eilish is currently only 18-years-old, the singer has become the youngest person in the history of the Bond franchise to write and record a theme song. So, good for her!
I guess the main reason I’m so surprised that Billie Eilish was named the singer of the theme song is just how unusual she is compared to previous choices. Sure, there’s no denying that she’s probably the most popular pop star in the world right now, and the Bond franchise has a tendency to go with the biggest names for this honor, but her musical style is a far cry from the singers like Madonna, Tina Turner, Sheryl Crow, Gladys Knight, Carly Simon, and Nancy Sinatra, who all contributed to Bond films in the past.
Yes, there are some recent outliers, particularly in the Daniel Craig era, like Jack White and Alicia Keys (“Quantum of Solace”) and Chris Cornell (“Casino Royale”), but the last two films went fairly conventional, with Adele and Sam Smith, respectively.
We’ll just have to wait and see how Eilish’s style lends itself to the world of Bond. “No Time to Die” arrives in theaters on April 8.
For those unfamiliar with her songs, here are a couple of Eilish’s massive hits:
The #NoTimeToDie title song will be performed by @billieeilish. Billie has written the song with her brother @finneas and is the youngest artist in history to write and record a James Bond theme song. pic.twitter.com/Qd5cYIRlmg
— James Bond (@007) January 14, 2020