At the 88th Academy Awards ceremony, singer/songwriter Sam Smith and his collaborator Jimmy Napes took home the Oscar for Best Original Song. "Writing's On The Wall," written and performed for the title sequence of Bond 24, "SPECTRE," bet out "Earned It" from "Fifty Shades of Grey", "Simple Song #3" from "Youth", "Manta Ray" from "Racing Extinction", and the critics' favourite, "Til It Happens To You" from "The Hunting Ground". Smith and Napes' win marks back-to-back Oscar wins for 007, the first time since "Goldfinger" and "Thunderball". At the 2013 ceremony Adele performed "Skyfall" and took home the Oscar for her work on the 23rd Bond film.
Like Adele before him, Sam Smith performed "Writing's On The Wall" live at the event before the win was announced. The British singer admitted to having some nerves about this gig, telling the BBC, "It was the worst moment of my life." Smith's performance was introduced by the quirky comedienne Sarah Silverman, who made fun of 007's treatment of women. In accepting the award Smith gave a shoutout to the LGBT community.