Billie Eilish delivered a stirring rendition of her James Bond theme song “No Time to Die.”
During last night’s (October 5) musical guest spot on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the 18-year-old pop star performed her emotionally-driven record alongside her brother Finneas. Evoking the same moody, brooding energy of the music video, Eilish and the 23-year-old singer-songwriter used an empty mansion as their stage, with the Grammy-winning artist singing the ballad as her brother plays the piano. Making the moment even more melancholic, the teenager rendered her presentation in black-and-white.
Monday's Fallon showcase marks the songstress’ latest live performance since linking up with Finneas in September for a Tiny Desk home concert. Ahead of last night's performance, Eilish also detailed the origin of her record—set to appear in the upcoming 25th James Bond film of the same name—describing it as a dream come true.
“It was a complete fantasy, like, ‘How cool would it be to do this?,’” Eilish told Fallon, adding that when she was asked to record the tune last summer, “it was very insane to us. It was a couple of months of disbelief.”
Surprisingly, the brother-sister duo admitted they initially struggled to write “No Time to Die.”
“It's a lot of pressure. It's a f—ing Bond song!” Finneas explained, noting that it was a challenge to try to fit the film’s title into the song. On Bond composer Hans Zimmer’s advice, the pair flew out to London to watch a rough cut of the film for inspiration.
“All day, we would lean and say, ‘Could we try…?’ and they would say, ‘Do this,’ and change it in real-time,” said Finneas, to which Eilish added, “Like, all 70 people. Everyone was so good. He loved it. … He really connected to it, which was crazy for us.”
Photo: YouTube