Ed Sheeran not giving up on his dream of singing the James Bond theme

British singer Ed Sheeran hopes that he will one day get to sing the theme song for a James Bond movie.

The 31-year-old was in talks to record a song for the ‘No Time To Die’ movie, but lost out to Billie Eilish.  

Speaking to footballer Peter Crouch, Ed revealed that he came pretty close to singing the theme song.

"They changed directors and then they just changed scripts and that was it. We had done all the meetings, I started writing it,” he said on ‘That Peter Crouch Podcast’. 

Billie went on to win a Grammy, Emmy, Oscar, and Golden Globe for the song.

The ‘Ocean Eyes’ hitmaker co-wrote the track with her brother, Finneas O'Connell.  The ‘Not Time To Die’ theme song was officially released in 2020. Billie recorded the single in 2019 when she was just 17 – making her the youngest person to record a Bond theme.

While he didn’t mention Billie’s name when discussing singing a Bond song, Ed told Peter that it “hurt” when he found out that he would no longer be performing the theme for the movie.

Peter asked him if he would still want to record the theme song if asked and Ed made it clear that he is not giving up on his dream.

“Yeah, of course. I'm not gonna pretend it didn't hurt not doing it, but yeah I would. If they came back I'd be like, 'Yeah, of course.' "

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Singing the James Bond theme song is a big deal for musicians. Madonna, Alicia Keys, Sheryl Crow, Duran Duran, Nancy Sinatra, Tina Turner, Gladys Knight, Shirley Bassey, and Tom Jones have all recorded a theme song for the franchise.

Several English singers have sung the theme song, which doesn't come as a surprise as 007 is a British secret agent. Ed joked that “you’ve got to eventually, as an English singer, want to do a Bond song”. 

Sam Smith’s ‘Writing's on the Wall’ won a Golden Globe and Academy Award.

‘Easy On Me’ hitmaker Adele also achieved major success with her Bond theme. She won ‘Best Original Song’ at the 2012 Academy Awards for ‘Skyfall’. The song also received a Grammy and Golden Globe.

Adele continues to make music history in 2022. She is now one award away from achieving EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) status after adding another major award to her list in September.

She won an Emmy in the 'Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded)' category for her 'One Night Only' show at the Creative Arts Emmys.

“Bloody hell I’m pleased as punch… Trust me to officially have an EGO. Thank you so much @televisionacad, I’m so so honored to receive this. Big up to everyone involved,” she wrote on Instagram. 

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Main image credit: YouTube/ Billie Eilish 'No Time To Die' theme song video