9 Things You Didn’t Know About Your Favorite James Bond Songs

In over 60 years of Bond films, only one singer ever did a cameo in the actual film: Madonna, who did double duty for 2002’s Die Another Day. She sang the electro-heavy theme song and did what amounted to an extended cameo as a fencing instructor named Verity.

In many ways, though, she proved the wisdom of keeping the singers out of the films, or at least (like Sheena Easton in For Your Eyes Only) tucked away in the title sequences: not only was Madonna’s song controversial, the film itself was generally hated. In fact, many a fan claimed that after a pretty good start, the movie goes totally off the rails just around the time Madonna shows up. None of the performers have been in the films since.