"Licence to Kill" is a song by American singer

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys K ...

, written and recorded for the James Bond film ''

Licence to Kill ''Licence to Kill'' is a 1989 spy film, the sixteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the second and final film to star Timothy Dalton as the MI6 agent James Bond. It sees Bond suspended from MI6 as he pursues t ...

''. The song was written by Narada Michael Walden, Jeffrey Cohen and

Walter Afanasieff Walter Afanasieff (born Vladimir Nikitich Afanasyev; February 10, 1958), formerly nicknamed Baby Love in the 1980s, is an American record producer and songwriter of Russian-Chinese descent. He was a collaborator with Mariah Carey on her first ...

. Released as a single on May 30, 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 well in Europe, peaking atop the

Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and known by its current name since October 2007, based on sales data from the Swedish ...

for eight weeks (four chart periods at the time) and reaching the top five in seven other European countries. It also peaked at number 79 on Canada's ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Top Singles chart but did not appear on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Critical reception

Jerry Smith from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' wrote, "Gladys Knight beats all-comers for the dubious pleasure of singing the theme to the latest

Bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemica ...

movie, written and produced by Narada Michael Walden, and basically a pastiche of the best of the previous themes. It can't really fail."

Pat Sharp Patrick Sharpin, known professionally as Pat Sharp (born 25 October 1961), is an English radio presenter, television presenter and DJ. In the UK, he is known mainly for his work on the children's ITV programme ''Fun House'', and his extensiv ...

for '' Smash Hits'' felt "Licence to Kill" "sounds very dramatic and James Bond-y".

Track listings

* 7-inch single :A. "Licence to Kill" – 4:11 :B. "Pam" (performed by Michael Kamen and the National Philharmonic Orchestra) * 12-inch single :A1. "Licence to Kill" (extended version) :B1. "Pam" (performed by Michael Kamen and the National Philharmonic Orchestra) :B2. "Licence to Kill"

Personnel

: vocals * Narada Michael Walden: songwriter, producer, arranger *

: songwriter, associate producer, arranger, orchestrator, keyboards, drum programming, percussion,

Moog bass The Moog Taurus is a foot-operated analog synthesizer designed and manufactured by Moog Music, originally conceived as a part of the Constellation series of synthesizers. The initial Taurus I was manufactured from 1975 to 1981; a less popular re ...

, synthesizer * Jeffrey Cohen: songwriter *

Michael Kamen Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, and session musician. Biography Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was born ...

: orchestrator * Gary Grant,

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's ''Thriller'', '' Rock with You'' ...

: horns * Greg "Gigi" Gonaway:

Paiste Paiste (English pronunciation: , ) is a Swiss musical instrument manufacturing company. It is the world's third largest manufacturer of cymbals, gongs, and metal percussion. is an Estonian word that means "shine". Apart from cymbals and gong ...

cymbals *

Ren Klyce Ren Klyce is a Japanese-American sound designer and sound mixer. He has been nominated for nine Academy Awards; six for Best Sound and three for Best Sound Editing. He is best known for his frequent collaborations with director David Fincher, ...

Fairlight synthesizer The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commercial lice ...

programming * Claytoven Richardson, Jeanie Tracy, Karen "Kitty Beethoven" Brewington, Melisa Kary, Sandy Griffith, Skyler Jett: background vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Cover versions

In 2017, musician and producer

Fernando Perdomo Fernando Jose Perdomo (born August 17, 1980) is an American musician best known for his work as a producer and session bassist and guitarist. Career Fernando started his career as a session guitar player after playing in Miami Bands, Avenging ...

collaborated with former Pink Floyd backing vocalist and

Blue Pearl Blue Pearl are an English electronic music duo consisting of American female singer Durga McBroom and British musician Youth (Martin Glover). They charted six times on the UK singles chart and had two songs reach the US ''Billboard'' Hot Dance ...

lead singer,

Durga McBroom Durga McBroom is an American singer who has performed backing vocals for Pink Floyd and is a member of the house music band Blue Pearl, best known for their hit single " Naked in the Rain". She works as an actress, dancer, and singer in the Unit ...

, recording the song for the multi-artist compilation album, ''Songs, Bond Songs: The Music of 007''."Songs, Bond Songs: The Music of 007"
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References

External links

Gladys Knight - Licence To Kill
on Discogs {{Authority control 1989 singles 1989 songs Gladys Knight songs Licence to Kill MCA Records singles Number-one singles in Sweden Song recordings produced by Narada Michael Walden Song recordings produced by Walter Afanasieff Songs from James Bond films Songs written by Narada Michael Walden Songs written by Walter Afanasieff Songs written for films