A View to a Kill (song)

"A View to a Kill"
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 (1985-05-07)[1]
Recorded	Early 1985
Studio	Maison Rouge CTS (London)
Genre	Synth-pop[2] new wave[3]
Length	3:37 (single version)
Label	EMI Capitol
Songwriter(s)	Duran Duran John Barry
Producer(s)	Bernard Edwards Jason Corsaro Duran Duran
Duran Duran singles chronology
"The Wild Boys" (1984) "A View to a Kill" (1985) "Notorious" (1986)
James Bond theme singles chronology
"All Time High" (1983) "A View to a Kill" (1985) "The Living Daylights" (1987)
Music video
"A View to a Kill" on YouTube
Audio sample
file help

"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]