Jack White has spoken about his 2008 James Bond theme ‘Another Way To Die’, calling it “one of the most divisive things” he’s worked on.

The former White Stripes musician wrote and produced the track – also featuring Alicia Keys – for Quantum Of Solace, which was the 22nd film in the Bond franchise. It reached Number Nine in the UK singles chart.

Speaking on a recent edition of the Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend podcast, White acknowledged the mixed reaction to the collaborative song.

“It’s one of the most divisive things I’ve been a part of,” the singer-songwriter explained.

“To this day, it’s straight across the board. People always say you either love or you hate it. That song is… there are people who hate it so much, and there are people who love it so much. Nowhere in the middle; it’s so strange.”

He continued: “Bond themes – in Britain, for example… that’s consistent coffee/breakfast conversation. Like, ‘What’s your favourite bond theme?’ It’s almost who you are as a person.”

White went on to recall how Amy Winehouse had initially been set to record the theme song for Quantum Of Solace, but said that he was selected after the late star failed to meet the bosses’ criteria.

“I got in because Amy Winehouse wasn’t showing up to the sessions or wasn’t delivering the song that they were asking her to do,” he remembered.

“So it was [like], ‘We were running out of time, we need somebody else… And I thought, ‘Oh, this was great, because now I’m gonna get away with murder; I’m gonna put things in this song, they would never approve of this…

“And that happened… The music director was not down with anything. He was trying to convince me to turn it into a ballad or something like that.”

White added: “It got interesting, I was like, ‘We’re going on tour, I can’t get in there’ – knowing full well I totally have time to fix it if I wanted to.”

As for his favourite James Bond theme, White singled out ‘Thunderball’ by Tom Jones from the 1965 film of the same name.

Back in 2008, Amy Winehouse said that her Bond track was rejected because film representatives wanted something “clean-cut and boring”.

“I do think they could have waited a bit,” she commented at the time. “If they want a worldwide hit, I have them all up here [pointing to her head].”

‘Another Way To Die’ appears at Number 14 in NME‘s rundown of the best James Bond theme tunes – check out the full list here.

Jack White is set to release his fifth solo album ‘Entering Heaven Alive’ on July 22. He played a pair of London headline shows this week following a secret set at Glastonbury 2022 last Sunday (June 26).

In a five-star review of the latter performance, NME wrote: “The bangers and fan favourites seem relentless – with White’s showmanship and craving to entertain channelling the spirit of that all-too-often rumoured Prince secret set that never was.”