"Could we not afford Adele or?!"— All about the singer who sang Skyfall at the Oscars as internet reacts to James Bond tribute

British singer Raye honored the James Bond franchise with her rendition of the 2012 Skyfall title track, originally sung by Adele, at the 2025 Oscars on Sunday.

Grammy-winning rapper and singer Doja Cat and BLACKPINK's Lisa also took part in the Oscars tribute by performing Diamonds Are Forever and Live and Let Die, respectively.

Rachel Agatha Keen aka Raye, who won several accolades during her musical run in the industry, left netizens with mixed reactions over her performance at the 97th Academy Awards. In 2013, the song Skyfall earned Adele an Oscar for Best Original Song.

Thus, Raye's cover of a small snippet of the track at the Oscars stirred mixed reactions. Some felt she was the perfect fit, while others preferred Adele's original version over Raye.

"Could we not afford Adele or?!" wrote one X user.

"No thanks, I prefer Adele," said another.

"I love raye but NO ONE does it better than adele! And i wish it was her playing," expressed one individual.

"I'm not feeling it... maybe it's the theatrics as the voice is there, hunny," wrote one more.

"She was nervous.. It was noticeable," commented one.

Others were awed by Raye's vocals at the 2025 Oscars, with some loving it more than the original version.

"Next Bond Theme artist right there," said one person.

"raye was literally born to sing a bond theme song. her voice is perfect for it!" resonated one X user.

"'Skyfall' never sounded so good!" another voiced.

"Raye i thought no one could top Adel with Skyfall, I was wrong…" wrote an X user.

"What a tribute, Raye was born for this moment," commented another.

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A brief look at Raye's musical milestones amid her 2025 Oscars performance

Raye has had a difficult time with her former record label, Polydor, as the singer revealed the company held her back from releasing her debut album for several years since 2014. It eventually drove Raye to become an independent artist, as she announced her leave from Polydor in July 2021.

In the earlier days of her musical journey, Raye wrote songs for other artists, including Charli XCX, Little Mix, and Beyonce.

Despite the hurdles, South London-born Raye first became a talk across social media in 2022 with her chart-topping single, Escapism, featured in her debut studio album, My 21st Century Blues. She set a new record in 2024 as the artist with the most nominations in a year by securing seven nominations at the 2024 BRIT Awards and winning six of them.

Raye won the Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist, Best R&B Act, and Songwriter of the Year awards at the 2024 BRITs. She won an award for the Best R&B Act at the 2025 BRITS. Raye previously lost a 2022 BRITS nomination for her David Guetta and Joel Corry collab Bed to Adele’s Easy On Me.

The 27-year-old singer also received 3 Grammy nominations this year in the categories— Best New Artist, Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, and Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical.

Raye won a few other accolades, including the BMI London Awards, Electronic Music Awards, Global Awards, Mobo Awards, and MTV Europe Music Awards.

Raye's performance at the 2025 Oscars marked another memorable moment in her artistic journey so far.