It has been used as music over the end credits for Dr. No, Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, The World Is Not Enough, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, and Spectre.

In 2008, the original recording of "The James Bond Theme" by The John Barry Seven And Orchestra on the United Artists label was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Norman consequently won two libel actions against publishers for claiming that Barry wrote the theme, most recently against The Sunday Times in 2001.

[4][better source needed] Though the "James Bond Theme" is identified with John Barry's jazz arrangement, parts of it are heard throughout Monty Norman's score for Dr. No in non-jazzy guises.

There is no information about the distinctive ostinati, countermelodies, and bridges introduced by Barry that are juxtaposed with Norman's motif in order to flesh out the arrangement.

The "James Bond Theme" was recorded on 21 June 1962, using five saxophones, nine brass instruments, a solo guitar and a rhythm section.

He was told by Noel Rogers, the head of United Artists Music, that though the producers would not give him any more money or a writing credit they would get in touch with him if there was another Bond film made.

The George Lazenby film On Her Majesty's Secret Service used a unique high-pitched arrangement with the melody played on a Moog synthesizer.

With the return of Sean Connery in Diamonds Are Forever, the guitar made a comeback along with a full orchestral version during a hovercraft sequence.

In Live and Let Die, the James Bond theme was featured in a Funk-inspired version of the tune reflecting the music of Blaxploitation films popular at the time.

This version of the Bond theme is notable for its introduction of sequenced electronic rhythm tracks overdubbed with the orchestra – at the time, a relatively new innovation.

The gun barrel of the Pierce Brosnan film GoldenEye opened with a synthesised arrangement by Éric Serra which plays the guitar riff on (almost indistinct) kettle drums.

[8] David Arnold's gun barrel arrangements in Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough dropped the guitar melody line, jumping straight from the tune's opening to its concluding bars.

In Casino Royale, the main notes of the song "You Know My Name" are played throughout the film as a substitute for the "James Bond Theme".

David Arnold said in an interview on the DVD extras for Tomorrow Never Dies that the "James Bond Theme" is what he expects to hear as an audience member in action scenes, yet his scores for Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace only use it during the end credits.

The theme that plays along with the sequence and into the end credits is David Arnold's Casino Royale track "The Name's Bond…James Bond".

In Spectre, the theme appears at the beginning of the film as part of the opening gun barrel sequence, indicating a return to the franchise's classic era of 1962 to 2002.

This is the only film in the Craig era that doesn't use the Bond theme in the credits, instead using "We Have All the Time in the World" from On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Additionally, the film's title track performed by Billie Eilish features a single trumpet solo interpolating the theme.

The John Barry Orchestra recording peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart on the week of 6–12 December 1962.