Lana Del Rey says she wrote James Bond song but it was rejected
Lana Del Rey wrote a song she hoped would serve as the James Bond theme in 2015, but says it was rejected by the film franchise’s producers.
The singer, 38, was speaking backstage at the Ivors in London, where she was recognised for her career and songwriting influence with a special award.
Asked if she would consider writing a Bond theme, she responded: “I mean, how has that not happened?”
The BBC reports that the “Summertime Sadness” artist then sang the chorus of her song “24”, from her 2015 album Honeymoon.
“I wrote that for them,” she said.
The track’s release date would suggest that Del Rey hoped to feature in Spectre, which marked actor Daniel Craig’s fourth turn as the suave spy.
Spectre’s theme was ultimately performed by Sam Smith, who won the Academy Award for Best Original Song with “Writing’s On the Wall”.
Del Rey said Smith did a “wonderful job” and joked that she would continue to do “my little Nancy Sinatra thing every now and then and just pretend it’s the title track.”
Meanwhile, British pop star RAYE, who took home the biggest prize of the night (Songwriter of the Year), said she was stunned that Del Rey’s offering had been rejected: “She just has the perfect energy for it.”
“I feel like she would eat that up – and I feel like that should happen in the future,” she added.
Elsewhere at the 2024 ceremony, Sir Paul McCartney presented rock star Bruce Springsteen with the Ivors Academy Fellowship, and made sure to throw in a few friendly jabs for good measure.
He began by joking that, “unlike Bruce’s concerts”, he would “keep this brief”.
He then said that he “couldn’t think of a more fitting” recipient of the 2024 fellowship... “except maybe Bob Dylan”.
“Or Paul Simon, or Billy Joel, or Beyoncé, or Taylor Swift,” he added. “The list goes on.”
Springsteen is the first international songwriter to be inducted into the Ivors Fellowship, which is the awards’ highest honour.
Previous recipients of the fellowship have included Sir Elton John, Kate Bush, Joan Armatrading and Sir Paul himself, who was the first artist to receive the honour after it was established in 2000.
Sir Paul joked that Springsteen was “known as the American working man, but he admits he’s never worked a day in his life”.
McCartney and Springsteen are firm friends, with the “Born to Run” star making a surprise guest appearance during the Beatles legend’s Glastonbury set in 2022.
