Adele “Skyfall” released

Skyfall Adele

Writer(s): Adele Adkins, Paul Epworth (see lyrics here) Released: October 5, 2012 First Charted: October 7, 2012 Peak: 8 US, 11 AC, 14 A40, 3 AA, 2 UK, 3 CN, 5 AU, 7 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 1.3 UK, 7.2 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 537.5 video, 489.16 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Singer/songwriter Adele Adkins was born in 1988 in London, England. She released her debut album, 19, in 2008. It was a huge success in her home country, reaching #1 and selling more than two million copies. It also got to #4 in the United States and sold three million copies. She also won a Grammy for Best New Artist. Her next album, 2011’s 21, made her a superstar. It spent 24 weeks at #1 on the Billboard album chart and sold more than 31 million copies worldwide. Three songs from the album went to #1 in the United States. It also won the Grammy for Album of the Year. It was hard to imagine how she would follow it. In 2011, Lia Vollack, the Sony Pictures President of Music, approached Adele about recording a theme song for the next James Bond movie, Skyfall. he thought her music had a “soulful, haunting, evocative quality” WK that would evoke the “classic Shirley Bassey feel” of early Bond films. WK Adele read the script and then she and co-writer Paul Epworth “aimed to capture the mood and style of the other Bond themes, including dark and moody lyrics descriptive of the film’s plot.” WK She said “it was one of the proudest moments of my life…I’ll be…60 telling people I was a Bond girl back in the day.” SF Daniel Craig, who played James Bond, said he cried when he first heard the song. “From the opening bars I knew immediately, then the voice kicked in and it was exactly what I'd wanted from the beginning. It just got better and better because it fitted the movie. In fact the more of the movie we made, the more it fitted it.” SF The song premiered at 0:07 BST on October 5, 2012 – Global James Bond Day – in elebration of the 50th anniversary of Dr. No, the first James Bond film. WK In a Dave’s Music Database ranking of the Bond themes, “Skyfall” came in at #2 (only behind “Live and Let Die” by Paul McCartney & Wings). It topped the charts in 15 countries and won the Oscar for Best Song as well as a Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media. It also took home the Brit Award for British single, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, and the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Song. Resources: Dave’s Music Database (10/5/2022). “James Bond Movie Themes Ranked” SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 1/18/2023.