From BZ/dpa
British singer, lyricist and film composer Monty Norman, who wrote the famous theme song for the James Bond films, has died.
This was announced on the musician’s official website. Norman died on Monday after a short illness, it said. The BBC also reported, citing Norman’s family. Monty Norman was 94 years old.
In 1962 Norman wrote the music for “James Bond – 007 chases Dr. No”, the first feature film about the famous secret agent. According to his own statement, he used a piece from a musical he had written as the basis for the now iconic “James Bond Theme”, which was never performed.
Not entirely satisfied with Norman’s arrangement at the time, the Bond producers commissioned composer John Barry to rearrange the theme again. This version became world famous and was heard in a modified form in every official James Bond film, most recently in No Time To Die.
Monty Norman has twice successfully defended himself in court against the claim that Barry, not himself, wrote the piece of music. Barry had composed the soundtracks for eleven 007 films from 1963 to 1987, in which it is frequently heard.
Actors Ursula Andress and Sean Connery in the first-ever James Bond film Dr No (1962) Photo: picture alliance / Capital Pictures
Monty Norman first made a name for himself as a singer in big bands in the 1950s before becoming a successful lyricist and composer. Born in London, he wrote songs for Cliff Richard and Count Basie, among others, and created various shows and musicals for London’s West End.
For “James Bond – 007 hunts Dr. No,” he also wrote the song “Underneath The Mango Tree,” which ur-Bond Sean Connery and Ursula Andress briefly intonate in one of the film’s most iconic scenes.