Licence to Kill (song) Licence to Kill (song) "Licence to Kill" is a 1989 song by Gladys Knight, written and recorded for the James Bond film "Licence to Kill", also from 1989. It was written by Narada Michael Walden, Jeffrey Cohen and Walter Afanasieff. Release as a single in May 1989, the song became a top-ten hit in the United Kingdom, peaking at number six and becoming Knight's last charting solo single there. The song charted very strongly in Europe, peaking atop the Swedish Singles Chart for eight weeks and reaching the top five in seven other European countries. It also peaked at number
Licence to kill (concept) is popularly known from the James Bond novels and films, where it is signified by the "00" (Double O) designation given to the agents in the series who are licensed to kill; Bond himself is famously agent 007. In literary portrayals, the licence is presumed to be a discretionary one, distributed rarely and requiring extensive training to obtain, granted only to a handful of covert agents of a state in the interest of national security. The agent is not necessarily expected to kill enemies as part of a mission, but may receive legal immunity from prosecution (in his own country)