British composer Monty Norman, best known for writing the iconic theme music for the James Bond films, died on Monday at the age of 94, his official website announced. A statement posted on his official website said, “It is with sadness we share the news that Monty Norman died on 11th July 2022 after a short illness (sic),”

Norman was born Monty Noserovitch in east London, to Jewish parents, on April 4, 1928. Monty Norman began his singing career with big bands before turning to compose and pen songs for musicals and films including Songbook and Poppy and Make Me An Offer and for pop stars such as Cliff Richard.

He most famously composed the score for Dr. No, the 1962 James Bond film starring Sean Connery. His theme for James Bond, as arranged by fellow Englishman John Barry, became the theme for the entire franchise.

On his site, Norman said, "We recognized we needed a fresh, contemporary sound for the main theme, and in the up-and-coming young John Barry we found a wonderful arranger, so the whole thing worked very well." Year later, Barry claimed that he had written the theme, which led to Norman suing the Times of London for libel over a 1997 story. In 2001, Norman won the case.