Alicia Keys wanted Amy Winehouse to sing on Bond theme

21-Sep-2008 • Quantum Of Solace

Alicia Keys admits she would have liked Amy Winehouse to join her and Jack White on making the new James Bond theme tune - reports the Daily Record.

The American singer and White Stripes frontman have recorded Another Way To Die for the new 007 movie, Quantum Of Solace.

The tune debuted on Jo Whiley's Radio 1 show yesterday and has leaked on to the net.

Alicia and Jack were surprise choices after Amy, who has battled drug addiction, had her attempt pulled by producer Mark Ronson while they were recording it.

Although Amy has since claimed she will release her version, Alicia and Jack's is the official one and they reckon a song with the three of them on would have been amazing. Last night, Alicia told the Razz: "I would have loved for her to do it, it would have been awesome. All three of us should do it.

"The Bond thing is an amazing process, it's great and I love being a part of it.

"The song is perfect for the movie. We just did the video and its unbelievable, so I'm excited about that."

They join the heady ranks of Bond singers including Paul McCartney's Live and Let Die, Duran Duran's View To A Kill, Shirley Bassey's Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever, Carly Simon's Nobody Does It Better, Nancy Sinatra's You Only Live Twice, Tina Turner's Goldeneye, Lulu's The Man With The Golden Gun and Sheena Easton's For Your Eyes Only.

But Alicia said: "It's that crazy, and this is the first Bond duet. It's a landmark."

However since it was released, fans have been split about whether it can be put in the same bracket as the classics or whether it joins the duff Bond tunes like Chris Cornell's You Know My Name from 2006's Casino Royale, Madonna's Die Another Day or Garbage's The World Is Not Enough.

Many people were far from blown away.

Writing on Newsbeat's Have Your Say debate, Mike, from Brighton said: "This is in no way a decent Bond theme. It lacks that certain epic quality that a theme should have."

LA Times reviewer Todd Marten said Keys' voice did not "mesh" well with White's.

"Another Way to Die is little more than hard-rock updating of the James Bond fanfare," he said.

Alicia herself is happy, saying: "I'm thrilled. Jack took the lead on the song, but to be able to combine my style with his, this rock and soul feel, it's great."

Jack added: "I didn't want to imitate anything or be retro. It had to feel like Bond. You're taking on a responsibility, there's a tradition of powerful music in all these films."

The song will be released as a limited edition of 6000 7in vinyl in America on September 30 and on October 6 in the UK. The pair will sing at the premiere of the film, which is released here on October 31.