Lana Del Rey reveals she had ‘James Bond’ theme rejected
American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey has revealed she previously had a James Bond theme song rejected, but still holds out hope to record another in the future.
Del Rey made the revelation at the Ivor Novello Awards on May 23rd in London, where her talent was recognised with the ‘Special International Award’. Furthermore, at the ceremony, Bruce Springsteen was honoured by Paul McCartney as an Academy Fellow, making him the first musician to be bestowed with this privilege that isn’t British.
Similarly to Springsteen, Del Rey has a special relationship with British audiences, having earned six number one studio albums in the UK compared with two in her native US. This summer, she’ll return to Britain to headline Reading & Leeds, and she was previously considered to record the theme song for the British cinematic institution, James Bond.
While speaking to the BBC at the Ivor Novello Awards, Del Rey was asked if she would like to record a Bond them in the future, to which she replied, “I mean, how has that not happened?”
The ‘Video Games’ singer then delivered an impromptu rendition of her track, ’24’, which appeared on the 2015 album, Honeymoon. After finishing the brief performance, she revealed, “I wrote that for them.”
If Del Rey would have been successful in her audition, ’24’ would have been the theme for Spectre, which also arrived in 2015. Radiohead were also asked to submit a potential song for the movie, which was rejected, with the powers that be instead electing to choose Sam Smith’s track, ‘Writing’s on the Wall’, which won an Academy Award for ‘Best Original Song’ and also topped the UK chart.
On ‘Writing’s on the Wall’, Del Rey said, “Sam, you did a wonderful job”. However, she also added, “One day, maybe… But I’m going to continue to do my little Nancy Sinatra thing every now and then and just pretend it’s the title track.”
With a new James Bond film on the horizon featuring a new leading man following the exit of Daniel Craig, Del Rey is likely to be linked to recording the soundtrack once again, and her latest comments will only ignite speculation.
At this stage, it remains uncertain when the upcoming movie will hit screens as there’s still no director attached to the project, and despite Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s name being thrown into the frame, nobody knows for certain who will appear in the titular role.
Last year, Barbara Broccoli who runs the Bond estate along with her half-brother Michael G. Wilson, claimed there was a “big road ahead” before a new movie arrived.
“I go back to [1995’s] GoldenEye when everyone was saying ‘the cold war is over, the wall is over,” Broccoli explained, referring to the character’s ability to transcend eras. “Bond is dead, no need for Bond, the whole world’s at peace, and now there’s no villains’ – and boy, was that wrong!”
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