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48 free James Bond Theme Songs trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This James Bond theme songs trivia quiz covers the music of every Eon film from Dr. No to No Time to Die. It asks who wrote and sang each theme — Shirley Bassey's three, Nancy Sinatra, Wings, Carly Simon, Sheena Easton, Duran Duran, a-ha, Gladys Knight, Tina Turner, Garbage, Madonna, Chris Cornell, Adele, Sam Smith and Billie Eilish — plus the composers behind them, from Monty Norman's disputed riff and John Barry's eleven scores to David Arnold and Hans Zimmer. It also collects the stories: the producer who hated 'Goldfinger', the abandoned 'Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang', the k.d. lang song demoted to the end credits, Blondie's and Radiohead's rejected submissions, the only duet, the youngest singer and which songs finally won Oscars and topped the charts. Roughly a third of the questions are easy for casual fans; the rest reward serious Bond obsessives. Note that we ask about the songs, not their words — no lyrics are quoted. Our main James Bond page covers the films themselves. Every answer has been checked against Wikipedia's articles on the songs and their sources, and each explanation adds one more thing worth knowing.
30 of 48 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who composed the 'James Bond Theme' first heard in Dr. No (1962)?
Monty Norman
Monty Norman composed the theme; John Barry arranged it and later claimed authorship, but Norman won a 2001 libel action against The Sunday Times over the credit.
Q 02Which singer is the only person to have performed more than one Bond theme?
Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey sang Goldfinger (1964), Diamonds Are Forever (1971) and Moonraker (1979); no other artist has performed more than one Bond title song.
Q 03Which was the first Bond theme to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song?
Skyfall
Skyfall won Adele the Oscar for Best Original Song in February 2013, a first for a Bond theme; Sam Smith and Billie Eilish then made it three Bond films in a row.
Q 04Which is the only Bond theme to have reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100?
A View to a Kill by Duran Duran
Duran Duran's 'A View to a Kill' topped the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1985; in the UK it peaked at number two behind Paul Hardcastle's '19'.
Q 05Which was the first Bond theme to reach number one on the UK singles chart?
Writing's on the Wall
Sam Smith's 'Writing's on the Wall' entered the UK chart at number one in October 2015, a first for a Bond theme; Billie Eilish's 'No Time to Die' later debuted at the top too.
Q 06Which Bond film has more than one opening theme, including a calypso 'Three Blind Mice'?
Dr. No
Dr. No opens with the James Bond Theme, then 'Kingston Calypso' (Three Blind Mice) and a bongo interlude; John Barry's single of the theme reached No. 13 in the UK.
Q 07Who sang the vocal version of 'From Russia with Love' heard at the film's end?
Matt Monro
Matt Monro's vocal version of Lionel Bart's 'From Russia with Love' plays over the end titles; the opening used John Barry's instrumental arrangement.
Q 08Which lyricists wrote 'Goldfinger'?
Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse
Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse wrote the Goldfinger lyric to John Barry's tune; told only of the girl killed by gilding, they built it around the 'Midas touch' image.
Q 09Which producer called 'Goldfinger' 'the worst song I've ever heard in my life'?
Harry Saltzman
Harry Saltzman, co-producer with Albert R. Broccoli, hated the song, which became Bassey's only US top-40 hit and entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008.
Q 10Director Guy Hamilton played John Barry which song as a 'gritty and rough' model for 'Goldfinger'?
Mack the Knife
Hamilton played Barry 'Mack the Knife' as the gritty model; the finished Goldfinger soundtrack topped the Billboard album chart in 1965, displacing the Beatles.
Q 11Who sang the last-minute Thunderball title song after 'Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' was dropped?
Tom Jones
Tom Jones recorded 'Thunderball' at the last minute after Broccoli insisted the theme contain the film's title; he reportedly fainted holding the final note.
Q 12Which two singers recorded 'Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang', the abandoned original Thunderball theme?
Shirley Bassey and Dionne Warwick
Shirley Bassey recorded 'Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' first, then Dionne Warwick; neither is heard in the film, though the melody runs through the score, and both surfaced on 1990s releases.
Q 13Who performed 'You Only Live Twice' (1967)?
Nancy Sinatra
Q 21Which Scottish singer performed 'For Your Eyes Only' and appeared on screen in the titles?
Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton sang 'For Your Eyes Only' and is the only theme performer to appear in a Bond title sequence; Conti had Donna Summer or Dusty Springfield in mind.
Q 22Which band had a title song rejected for For Your Eyes Only in favour of Bill Conti's?
Blondie
Blondie's own 'For Your Eyes Only' was turned down when the producers preferred Bill Conti's song; Blondie released theirs on the 1982 album The Hunter.
Q 23Rita Coolidge's Octopussy theme, with lyrics by Tim Rice, was titled what?
All Time High
Nancy Sinatra sang it after Cubby Broccoli first sought her father Frank; its opening violin bars echo a melody from Tcherepnin's First Piano Concerto.
Q 14Which Bond film has an instrumental title theme, with Louis Armstrong singing elsewhere in it?
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) opens with a John Barry instrumental; Louis Armstrong's 'We Have All the Time in the World' plays during the film, sung without his trumpet.
Q 15Who wrote the lyrics for 'Diamonds Are Forever' and later 'The World Is Not Enough'?
Don Black
Don Black wrote the lyrics to Thunderball, Diamonds Are Forever, The Man with the Golden Gun and The World Is Not Enough, four Bond title songs across 34 years.
Q 16'Live and Let Die' reunited Paul McCartney with which producer, who won a Grammy for its arrangement?
George Martin
George Martin produced and arranged 'Live and Let Die', winning a Grammy for the arrangement; it was the first Bond theme nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar.
Q 17Which singer performed 'The Man with the Golden Gun', the only Bond title track to miss both UK and US charts?
Lulu
Lulu sang 'The Man with the Golden Gun' (1974), which John Barry called 'the one I hate most'; its lyrics were notably suggestive.
Q 18'Nobody Does It Better' from The Spy Who Loved Me was composed by whom?
Marvin Hamlisch
Marvin Hamlisch composed 'Nobody Does It Better' with words by Carole Bayer Sager; Carly Simon's recording spent three weeks at No. 2 in the US behind Debby Boone.
Q 19'Nobody Does It Better' was the first Bond theme since Dr. No to do what?
Have a title different from the film's
It still slips the film's name into the lyric.
Q 20Which singers were considered for or offered 'Moonraker' before the eventual singer?
Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis and Kate Bush
Mathis withdrew, Paul Williams cut a version with different lyrics, and Kate Bush declined because of her Tour of Life.
John Barry wanted Don Black but he was busy with the musical Merlin, so Rice stepped in.
Q 24Duran Duran performed 'A View to a Kill' at which 1985 concert, their last together before splitting?
Live Aid in Philadelphia
Duran Duran played 'A View to a Kill' at Live Aid in Philadelphia on 13 July 1985, the classic line-up's last performance together until its 2003 reunion.
Q 25Which Norwegian band recorded the 1987 Bond theme with John Barry, who found it exhausting?
a-ha
a-ha recorded 'The Living Daylights' with John Barry, who found the sessions exhausting; Pål Waaktaar wrote it and the band re-recorded it for Stay on These Roads.
Q 26Who sang 'Licence to Kill' in 1989?
Gladys Knight
Gladys Knight sang 'Licence to Kill', which borrows the 'Goldfinger' horn motif; Patti LaBelle sang the end-credits song 'If You Asked Me To'.
Q 27'GoldenEye', sung by Tina Turner, was written by which pair?
Bono and the Edge
Bono and the Edge of U2 wrote 'GoldenEye' for Tina Turner; Nellee Hooper produced it and it reached number 10 in the UK.
Q 28Which k.d. lang song was moved from Tomorrow Never Dies' title sequence to its end credits?
Surrender
k.d. lang's 'Surrender' was moved to the end credits when Sheryl Crow's song took Tomorrow Never Dies' titles; the film's score weaves its melody throughout.
Q 29Which singer's end-credits song 'Only Myself to Blame' was dropped from The World Is Not Enough?
Scott Walker
Scott Walker's 'Only Myself to Blame' was cut from The World Is Not Enough's end credits but survived on the soundtrack album, its melody standing for Elektra King in the score.
Q 30Madonna's 2002 Bond theme was co-written and co-produced with which French producer?
Mirwais Ahmadzaï
Mirwais Ahmadzaï, Madonna's collaborator on the album Music, co-wrote and co-produced 'Die Another Day', whose lyric even name-checks Sigmund Freud.