JAMES BOND
NEWS

Legendary performers including original James Bond recording artists Dame Shirley Bassey, Lulu and Shirley Manson (with her band Garbage) last night celebrated 007’s 60th anniversary with a concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The Sound of 007 IN CONCERT was produced by five-time James Bond composer David Arnold, accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra conducted by Nicholas Dodd.

The Sound of 007 IN CONCERT was sponsored by Bowers & Wilkins and OMEGA, and was an official charity event to celebrate 007’s 60th anniversary, benefitting music charities Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy and the BRIT Trust.

Dame Shirley Bassey (above top left) opened the concert with ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ and ‘Goldfinger’; Lulu (above top right) sang ‘The Man With The Golden Gun’; Shirley Manson (above bottom left) with fellow Garbage band members Duke Erikson and Butch Vig performed their title song from The World Is Not Enough (1999), Hans Zimmer played ‘The James Bond Theme’ which segued into his own composition ‘Cuba Chase’ from No Time To Die (above bottom right). The composer was joined by David Arnold playing acoustic guitar. Hans Zimmer and David Arnold both played a Duesenberg electric guitar during The Sound of 007 IN CONCERT, which was then a late addition to the Sixty Years of James Bond Online Auction where it realised £32,500. It is one of only three special edition Duesenberg ‘007’ guitars produced and was signed by all performers at the concert, and also by James Bond co-producers Barbara Broccoli & Michael G. Wilson, who also attended The Sound of 007 IN CONCERT at the Royal Albert Hall.

Alongside the original song recording artistes, other popular contemporary singers gave their rendition of some classic James Bond songs. Jamie Cullum (above top left) sang ‘From Russia With Love’; Actress and singer Emma Lindars (above top right) performed Adele's ‘Skyfall’; Celeste (above bottom left) sang ‘You Only Live’ Twice’; Ella Eyre performed ‘Licence To Kill’ and returned in the second half of the concert to sing ‘Nobody Does It Better’ from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Skin (above bottom right) gave an energetic rendition of Paul McCartney's ‘’Live And Let Die’ accompanied by David Arnold on electric guitar.

Composer David Arnold also took to the stage to pay tribute to Chris Cornell who died in 2017, with whom he co-wrote ‘You Know My Name’ for Daniel Craig's debut as James Bond. Arnold then sang ‘You Know My Name’ - the title song from Casino Royale (2006) in memory of his late friend. Oscar-winner and six-time James Bond lyricist Don Black also reminisced and paid tribute to his friend and frequent collaborator, eleven-time Bond composer John Barry (1933-2011).

The incomparable Paloma Faith (above left) performed ‘GoldenEye’, with American singer, musician, and songwriter John Grant (above right) singing ‘We Have All The Time In The World’ - which featured in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) and No Time To Die (2021). The evening concluded with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under conductor Nicholas Dodd (inset with David Arnold below) performing David Arnold's ‘The Name's Bond... James Bond’ - his take on the ‘James Bond Theme’ arranged for the end of Casino Royale (2006). Arnold also played guitar for the finale. The piece was accompanied by a montage of clips from 60 years of James Bond films on the big screen in the Royal Albert Hall which was designed to look like Maurice Binder's iconic gun barrel.

Interspersed with the vocal performances The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra also performed selections of music representing the James Bond composers of the past 60 years, including John Barry's main title from ‘On Her Majesty's Secret Service’, ‘Underwater Mayhem’ from Thunderball (1965), and ‘Capsule In Space’ from You Only Live Twice (1967), George Martin's ‘Boat Chase’ from Live And Let Die (1973), Marvin Hamlisch's ‘Bond 77’, and Eric Serra's ‘That's What Keeps You Alone’ from GoldenEye (1995). Also performed were David Arnold's pre-title music ‘Come In 007, Your Time Is Up’ from The World Is Not Enough (1999), and ‘Night At The Opera’ from Quantum of Solace (2008), Thomas Newman's ‘End Titles’ from Spectre (2015), and a suite from Hans Zimmer's score for the 25th James Bond film, No Time To Die (2021). These special orchestral suites were not included Amazon's streaming version of The Sound of 007 IN CONCERT, which reduced the original three-hour running time down just just under one-hour. The edited Amazon Prime version therefore only featured the vocal performances and ‘James Bond Theme’. Introductory voice-over for the various artistes was provided by Dame Judi Dench.

Co-producers Michael G. Wilson & Barbara Broccoli (above left) attended the concert, as did other James Bond film alumni including Maryam d'Abo (above centre) and Thunderball bad-girl Luciana Paluzzi [accompanied by her husband Michael Solomon] (above right).

Also at the concert were Caterina Murino (above left), Lynn-Holly Johnson (above centre) and long-time assistant director & associate producer Anthony Waye and his wife (above right).

Among the other attendees were No Time To Die production designer Mark Tildesley and guest (above left), screenwriter Neal Purvis (above centre), and ‘Octopussy Girls’ Alison Worth and Carole Ashby (above right).

Also enjoying the concert were No Time To Die's new ‘007’ Lashana Lynch (above left), special effects wizard Chris Corbould (above centre), and representing the man who first brought Bond to the big screen 60 years ago [with Albert R. Broccoli], Steven Saltzman - the son of original James Bond co-producer (above right).

FACT FILES