| "A View to a Kill" | ||||
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&sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:Duran_Duran_A_view_to_a_kill.jpg) Artwork for the UK single | ||||
| Single by Duran Duran | ||||
| from the album A View to a Kill (soundtrack) | ||||
| B-side | "A View to a Kill" (That Fatal Kiss) | |||
| Released | 7 May 1985[1] | |||
| Recorded | Early 1985 | |||
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| Length | 3:37 (single version) | |||
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| Duran Duran singles chronology | ||||
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| James Bond theme singles chronology | ||||
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| "A View to a Kill" on YouTube | ||||
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"A View to a Kill" is a song by the English pop rock band Duran Duran, released on 7 May 1985. Written and recorded as the theme for the James Bond film of the same name, it became one of the band's biggest hits. It is the only James Bond theme song to have reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100; it also made it to number two for three weeks on the UK Singles Chart while stuck behind Paul Hardcastle's "19".[4][5] The song was the last track recorded by the most famous five-member lineup of Duran Duran until their reunion in 2001 and was also performed by the band at Live Aid in Philadelphia, their final performance together before their first split.
The following year, composer John Barry and Duran Duran were nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for "A View to a Kill". Following Barry's death in 2011, the band paid tribute to him for their encore at the Coachella Festival later that year, with Simon Le Bon reappearing in a tuxedo for a pared-down version backed by an orchestra,[6] before launching into the familiar full-band hit version.[7] Bassist John Taylor introduced the song by saying, "We lost a dear friend of ours this year. A great English composer familiar to Hollywood, his name was John Barry. We're gonna play this for him."[8]
- ^ "New Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 4 May 1985. p. 28. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ Zaleski, Annie (4 November 2015). "Duran Duran's "A View To A Kill" propelled James Bond into the modern world". The A.V. Club.
- ^ Slant Staff (4 October 2021). "Every James Bond Theme Song Ranked". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
...elevating an otherwise nonsensical collage of fire and ice and fatal kisses to a new wave banger.
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums. London: Guinness World Records Limited
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2006). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. Billboard Books
- ^ Breihan, Tom (14 October 2020). "The Number Ones: Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill"". Stereogum. Stereogum Media. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
- ^ "Duran Duran - Bond Medley & A View To A Kill ( Coachella Festival 2011)". YouTube. Jcc. 12 April 2021. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
- ^ "Duran Duran -Bond medley View to a kill live Coachella 2011". YouTube. RocioDD. 23 April 2011. Event occurs at 0m 30s. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.