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Naomi Banks sings Radiohead's unused Bond theme “Spectre” at the Proms
Radiohead's “Spectre”, the theme the producers of the 2015 Bond film turned down, was sung by Naomi Banks at the BBC Proms on 25 August, with the BBC Concert Orchestra under Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser. The film went with Sam Smith's “Writing's on the Wall”, and Radiohead gave their song away on Christmas Day 2015.
The concert was Bond and Beyond, a night of Bond title songs at the Royal Albert Hall presented by the comedian Nick Mohammed, with Lulu as the surprise guest singing her 1974 “The Man with the Golden Gun”. Louise Penn gave it five stars for BroadwayWorld and wrote that the theme once thought too dark for the film shone. Ivan Hewett, in the Telegraph, found most of the programme alike and named the moody Radiohead song as one of the few things in it that sounded different.
Earlier in the season, Simon Hale's arrangement of “Pyramid Song” for choir and orchestra was played at a Late Night Prom built around the percussionist Evelyn Glennie on 11 August. Harry Mayes, reviewing the late show for The Reviews Hub, found the BBC Singers' layers so thick that the words melted into texture, and thought the arrangement better for it.
On 8 September the BBC put its film of “Spectre” on YouTube, with Bartholomew-Poyser introducing the song from the stage.
Radiohead at the 2026 Proms
| Date | Venue | Concert | Song | Performers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 August 2026 | Royal Albert Hall | Relaxed Prom | “Pyramid Song” (arr. Simon Hale) | BBC Singers, Fantasia Orchestra, Tom Fetherstonhaugh |
| 11 August 2026 | Royal Albert Hall | Late Night Prom with Evelyn Glennie | “Pyramid Song” (arr. Simon Hale) | BBC Singers, Fantasia Orchestra, Tom Fetherstonhaugh |
| 25 August 2026 | Royal Albert Hall | Bond and Beyond | “Spectre” | Naomi Banks, BBC Concert Orchestra, Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser |
Spectre at the Proms· BBCwatch on youtube →