Billie Eilish releases theme song to James Bond film No Time to Die
American singer, 18, youngest performer to write and record title track for franchise
American teen pop sensation Billie Eilish, fresh off her big Grammy Awards victory and an Oscars night performance, has released her much-anticipated official theme song to the forthcoming James Bond film No Time to Die.
The four-minute ballad — a haunting song of betrayal and despair co-written by Eilish and her older brother, Finneas, and performed to an orchestral arrangement — was posted to YouTube and various music streaming sites on Thursday.
The recording, itself titled No Time to Die, was produced by Finneas with a musical arrangement by Hans Zimmer and Matt Dunkley. The track was released by Eilish's Interscope Records/Darkroom label and includes veteran British session musician Johnny Marr on guitar.
At 18, Eilish is now the youngest artist ever to write and record a James Bond theme song. She joins such stars as Adele, Madonna and Paul McCartney as those who have lent their voice to the franchise.
The song's foreboding lyrics suggest a romance that meets with a decidedly unhappy ending, as Eilish sings during the chorus:
"Fool me once, fool me twice/Are you death or paradise?
"Now you'll never see me cry/There's just no time to die."
The movie No Time to Die, the 25th title in the James Bond movie franchise, is due to arrive in theatres in April, with Daniel Craig resuming his title role as the British secret agent for a fifth and final time.
Live performance in London next week
Eilish is slated to perform the theme song live for the first time at the Brit Awards in London Feb. 18, ahead of the March 9 launch of her North American arena tour, Interscope said in a statement.
She had widely been expected to debut the Bond single at the Academy Awards show last Sunday, but sang the Beatles' Yesterday during the telecast's In Memoriam segment instead.
Two weeks earlier, Eilish swept the Grammys by taking the four top prizes — best album, best record, song of the year and best new artist — becoming only the second musician to win all four categories on the same night.
Eilish wrote and recorded most of her debut studio album — When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? — with her brother, Finneas, 22, in the small bedroom of their Los Angeles-area home.
The album, including such hits as When the Party's Over, Everything I Wanted and Bad Guy, ranked as the No. 1 album of 2019.