Last night, Sam Smith posted a picture of his hand with a ring bearing the insignia for the new Bond theme, 'Spectre' - leading many to believe that an official announcement was imminent.

Now, the young Englishman - and the favourite for the job - has put months of speculation to rest and confirmed this morning on Twitter that he will sing the film's theme.

The song is called 'Writing's on the Wall', which is available to pre-order from tonight.

 


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The 23-year-old is the second youngest solo artist to sing a Bond theme, following the 22-year-old Sheena Easton's 1981 song for 'For Your Eyes Only', and the second British artist in a row to do the job, following Adele, who was 24 when she provided 'Skyfall' in 2012. Lulu was 26 when she sang the theme for 'The Man with the Golden Gun'; Nancy Sinatra was 27 for 'You Only Live Twice' and Shirley Bassey was the same age for 1964's 'Goldfinger'.

 

UPDATE: The song - which was co-written by Smith and Jimmy Napes, who co-wrote several songs on 'In the Lonely Hour' - will be available to buy and stream on September 25th. 'Spectre' is in cinemas on October 26th. 

The film's producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson said: “Sam and Jimmy have written the most inspirational song for Spectre and with Sam’s extraordinary vocal performance, ‘Writing’s On The Wall’ will surely be considered one of the greatest Bond songs of all time.”