Lana Del Rey confirmed as next James Bond song singer — but perhaps not how you expected

She’s long been rumoured to sing a Bond song, and now it’s confirmed: Lana Del Rey will be the next singer to perform a James Bond theme tune.

But! It’s a James Bond with a difference...

The Summertime Sadness singer will perform the title track to 007: First Light, the new big-budget, cinematically-styled game being developed by IO Interactive.

Fitting, giving Del Rey’s rise to stardom with the hit song Video Games? Whatever — you can hear the track for yourself embedded below:

The song gets some added Bond pedigree via its co-writer, David Arnold, who has scored five Bond films — Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale, and Quantum of Solace.

“The music of James Bond has always been a huge part of its identity. A title song has to tell us about the world we are about to enter into. It has to intrigue, excite, and beckon us in,” he said in a release accompanying the news.

“This song joins a long line of genre defining songs, each one creating a benchmark of style that adds to the magnificent heritage that is ‘The Bond Song’. That’s why I was so excited to work with Lana, an artist who brought elegance, atmosphere, and her totally unique character to this piece, which I hope will open the world of Bond to a whole new audience.”

It’s a great coup for the gaming world, but I can’t help feeling just a little bit sorry for Del Rey — she seems like the natural choice to do the bigscreen James Bond tune and, as cool as the game is, it won’t have quite the prestige that the main franchise has. It’s unlikely she’ll get a chance now to do both.

Still, 007: First Light is looking like a stonking game. Visually impressive and with a great developer behind it (IO Interactive previously worked on the excellent, Bond-like Hitman games), it will follow the adventures of a rookie Bond on his earliest missions. will release on May 27th, 2026, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, and Summer 2026 on Nintendo Switch 2.

For a bit more on 007: First Light, tune into IO Interactive’s YouTube channel at 8pm on April 17th to see the reveal of their take on the iconic Bond opening title sequence.

• All the artists rumoured for the next Bond theme song

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