U2: How a Bad Bono Demo Became The Theme Song For Goldeneye 007 (Tina Turner)

How a bad Bono Demo became the theme song for 1995's Goldeneye 007 sung by Tina Turner

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When you think of the James Bond film Goldeneye what comes to your mind? Well for me it’s the Nintendo 64 game and it’s memorable multiplayer but i also think about pierce brosnans first role as James Bond and of course the theme song performed by Tina Turner. Well Tina Turner was no the first artist asked to perform the theme song and she would later admit that she almost never did the song because of what she referred to as and i quote ‘the worst’ demo sent to her by U2’[s bono. Today we’re going to talk about the history of the theme song.

1995’s Goldeneye would represent James Bond’s long awaited return with his last film coming in 1989. Generally the James Bond theme songs have been a recipe for success on the singles charts and Goldeneye was no different. Goldeneye would end up being a top 10 hit in over a dozen countries. But maybe that wouldn’t have been the case had Tina Turner not done the song because she almost didn’t. Originally Depeche Mode was tapped in to work on the theme song but the band who was on the road promoting their 1993 record songs of faith and devotion were going through infighting and addiction passed on the opportunity. Even Swedish group Ace of Base was asked to cut a theme song for the movie which they did. You can actually hear it on youtube, but the band’s label Arista records worried that the film could be a flop and hurt the band’s career so they blocked them from taking on the project.

Ace of Base would end up releasing what would have been their james bond theme titled Juvenille on their 2002 album Da Capo.

Meanwhile Tina Turner was having a bit of a career resurgence thanks to her 1993 biopic that brought her back into the spotlight. ​​She would be chosen to sign the new band theme with her telling MTV at the time “I think one’s made it when such people invite you to be among this company, good company.”

The producers knowing that Tina Turner was good friends with Bono \and even his neighbour at one of his homes in France tapped the irish band to come up with the theme song. Bono also happened to stay at 007 creator Ian Fleming’s estate in Jamiaca that was dubbed Goldeneye during his honeymoon. Bono and company were no stranger to doing film soundtracks as the same year they had cut the theme for the Batman forever with the song Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me. Bono and the Edge would team up with producer Nelle Hooper for the Batman theme and did the same for Goldeneye.

Despite her admiration for Bono, Turner didn’t mince words about the demo she was received from Bono. You can hear the demo on youtube if you want. Appearing on BBC in 2018 Turner would admit and i quote “Bono sent me the worst demo," "He kind of threw it together as if he thought I wasn’t going to do it...This song, I (didn’t) even know what key to practice it in.” “I had to actually come out of myself to make it a song,". "I’d never sang a song like that before so it really gave me creativity in terms of making something out of something that was really rough, very rough.”

That demo that Bono had recorded happened during a time when he was dealing with some throat problems and he would end up later apologzing to Turner.

The theme song which dropped a few weeks before the movie’s release was a smash hit across the world and would be further helped by the movie’s success raking in nearly 360 million on a 60 million budget.

The label Virgin who put out the film’s soundtrack would work with radio stations across America to give away free passes to the movie and soundtracks. Targeting colleges the label would also hold James Bond themed parties at pubs and libraries according to billboard magazine