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
James Bond Theme Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969), "The World Is Not Enough" (1999), "Casino Royale" (2006), "Quantum of Solace" (2008), "Skyfall" (2012), and "Spectre" (2015). Monty Norman has been credited with writing the "James Bond Theme", and has received royalties since 1962. Norman collected around £485,000 in royalties between the years 1976 and 1999. For "Dr. No", the tune was arranged by John Barry, who would later go on to compose the soundtracks for eleven James Bond films. Courts have ruled twice that the theme was written by Monty Norman, despite claims and testimony by Barry that he had actually written the