Bond theme tops UK charts for first time

Sam Smith's new song has made music history by becoming the first Bond theme to top the UK charts. Writing's On The Wall scooped combined chart sales and streams of 70,000 copies, beating Justin Bieber's What Do You Mean? into second place by shifting 13,000 copies more than the Canadian pop star.

Writing on Instagram on Friday (2 October), Smith, 23, said: "I feel like I'm In a dream. To have the honour to do Bond is one thing but to get the first ever NUMBER ONE for a bond song is another thing entirely!! Thank you to all who played and purchased Writings on the wall this week. I think it's safe to say now, you like it hahahaha xx"

The previous highest-charting Bond themes were Adele's Skyfall and Duran Duran's View To A Kill, which both reached number two in the UK despite Skyfall later winning an Oscar, Grammy, Brit Award and a Golden Globe.

Surprisingly, some classic Bond themes barely made it into the top ten. Paul McCartney and Wings' Live and Let Die secured the number seven spot in 1973, while Shirley Bassey's Goldfinger, one of the most famous Bond themes ever written, peaked at a paltry 21 in the UK in 1964.

The Brit Awards winner is the first solo British male to perform a Bond theme since 1965, when Tom Jones reached 35 in the UK charts with Thunderball. Spectre will be released in UK cinemas on 6 November and sees Daniel Craig reprising the lead role. The film also stars Ben Whishaw, Monica Belucci, Lea Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes and Christoph Waltz.