Sam Smith’s highly-anticipated theme song for the new James Bond film Spectre has been unveiled.

However, opinion appeared to be split, with some hailing it a “classic” and others comparing it to M ichael Jackson’s Earth Song, which was panned by critics.

Smith has admitted he was nervous about how Bond fans would react to Writing’s on the Wall.

Former 007 Sir Roger Moore wrote that Smith had “delivered a very haunting and wonderfully orchestrated” song, but most opinion on social media appeared to be negative, with many making the Jackson comparison.

A few hours after its release, Smith thanked fans on Twitter, writing: “Thank you for all your amazing messages. Today is such a special day for me and I am so grateful to everyone supporting this track xx.”

Speaking to the Capital FM Breakfast Show about the song, he said: “I’m excited for people to hear it and I hope it just does the film and the legacy justice.”

The 23-year-old confirmed earlier this month that he was taking up the gauntlet from Adele after months of speculation.

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