Ed Sheeran Had "Already Started" Writing James Bond Theme Song When He Was Replaced By Billie Eilish: "I'm Not Gonna Pretend It Didn't Hurt Not Doing It"
If Danny Boyle didn't quit the movie, everyone would've heard what Ed Sheeran came up with.
Ed Sheeran had already started writing his James Bond theme song when he was replaced by Billie Eilish.
Appearing on That Peter Crouch Podcast, Sheeran said he was in line to pen a song for the latest instalment in the spy franchise when Danny Boyle was attached to direct — until Cary Joji Fukunaga replaced Boyle and Billie Eilish was brought on board to write and record what would be become the Oscar-winning 'No Time to Die'.
"I was within a f****** gnat's pube of doing one, but then they changed directors, changed scripts and that was it all done," the 'Bad Habits' hitmaker said.
"I had started writing it. I'm not gonna pretend it didn't hurt not doing it."
Sheeran still got to work with Boyle, though: He starred as himself in the Trainspotting director's Beatles-inspired fantasy Yesterday.
However, Sheeran has ruled out the possibility of him doing his own football song, instead heaping praise on Frank Skinner, David Badiel and the Lightning Seeds' classic 'Three Lions'.
He said: "'Three Lions' is our national anthem.
"The thing will football songs is that it's kind of like Christmas songs - if you don't have anything to offer that is going to be different or better, just don't do it."
In terms of his music career, Sheeran — who has daughters Lyra and Jupiter with wife Cherry Seaborn — previously revealed he plans to cut back on touring after becoming a dad.
He said: "I would hate to get to 20 years’ time and have a relationship with my kids that had suffered because I’d chosen work over them.
"I honestly think that this next tour that I’m going on, at the end of the tour, I can’t see myself going on one of them like that again.
“I want to put as much time into my kids as possible."
Listen to Sheeran's interview on That Peter Crouch Podcast here: