Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell won the original-song Oscar for “No Time to Die,” the title tune for the latest James Bond film, at Sunday’s 94th annual Academy Awards.
It’s the third consecutive Academy Award for music in the long-running spy franchise, following Adele’s win for 2012’s “Skyfall” and Sam Smith’s for “Writing’s on the Wall” from 2015’s “Spectre.”
The two wrote the song nearly three years ago and it was released in February 2020. They also performed the tune on the Oscars telecast.
It was also a clean sweep for the brother-and-sister duo, as they had already won a Grammy and the Golden Globe, plus Critics Choice and Society of Composers & Lyricists awards, for “No Time to Die.”
Eilish, 20, becomes the second youngest honoree in this category, after 19-year-old Czech-Icelandic songwriter Markéta Irglová’s win for “Falling Slowly” from 2007’s “Once.” O’Connell is 24.
Eilish and Finneas wrote “No Time to Die” in late 2019, as post-production on the 25th 007 epic was underway. Producer Barbara Broccoli had invited them to submit a song, and they penned a melancholy ballad about betrayal and heartbreak based on a reading of the first 20 pages of the script.
Composer Hans Zimmer, arriving in London to begin work on the score, championed the song to Broccoli, fellow producer Michael Wilson and director Cary Joji Fukunaga, who then flew the duo to London to see the film and consult on orchestral arrangements and production.
Star Daniel Craig also gave his blessing to the four-minute song, which debuted at the top of the UK singles chart in February 2020 and peaked at no. 16 on the U.S. Billboard chart.
Its Grammy win a year ago (for best song written for visual media) marked the first time a movie song had won in that category prior to the release of the film itself. “No Time to Die” was repeatedly COVID-delayed, finally opening in London in late September 2021. The movie is now the fourth highest-grossing film of the year.
Eilish and O’Connell have since gone on to write new songs for Pixar’s “Turning Red.”
Accepting the Oscar, Eilish marveled from the stage, “Oh my gosh, this is so unbelievable, I could scream.”
In addition to the 007 family, composer Hans Zimmer and musician Johnny Marr, among other collaborators, Finneas made sure to thank mom and dad, who were in the audience. “We love you as parents and as real people, too,” he said.
