20 Things You Didn't Know About Licence To Kill (1989)
10. Licence To Kill
Initially, it was planned that Vic Flick and Eric Clapton would collaborate on an updated version of Monty Norman's The James Bond Theme for the film’s main song, since Flick had provided the guitar riff for John Barry's original arrangement of the classic tune. However, these plans fell through and an alternative main theme was chosen in the form of Gladys Knight’s song, Licence to Kill.
Knight, a Christian soul singer, objected to the word “kill” at first, but eventually relented. The song also referenced the “horn line” from Dame Shirley Bassey’s theme for Goldfinger, meaning that royalties had to be paid to the original songwriters: John Barry, Anthony Newley, and Leslie Bricusse. It is the longest Bond song to date.
Additionally, the song’s music video, which features Gladys Knight in a tuxedo, was directed by Daniel Kleinman, who became the regular director of the Bond titles sequences from GoldenEye onwards after Maurice Binder passed away.