The band, usually a classic power trio with the occasional keyboard player, released ten albums, with MCA, A&M, and RCA, between 1971 and 1982, attracting a fair number of fans and achieving modest commercial success.

[3] The band had initially considered going under the name "Six Ton Budgie", but decided the shorter single word variant was preferable.

[6] Burke Shelley has said that the band's name came from the fact that he "loved the idea of playing noisy, heavy rock, but calling ourselves after something diametrically opposed to that".

[7] Their eponymous debut album of strong, blues-oriented hard rock was recorded at Rockfield Studios with Black Sabbath producer Rodger Bain[8] and released in 1971.

[9] For concerts promoting this album and the follow-up, If I Were Brittania I'd Waive the Rules, the band were augmented by second guitarist Myf Isaac.

Music from the 1978 LP Impeckable featured in the 1979 film J-Men Forever (shown frequently on the USA Network's "Night Flight" T.V.

In late 1978, having been dropped by A&M and with no recording contract, this line-up floundered, and after 12 months Kendrick was replaced by "Big" John Thomas (b.

The band reformed using various drummers for one-off gigs in 1995 and 1996 for outdoor festivals 'La Semana Alegre' in San Antonio, Texas.

They toured in 2002–2006, mostly in the United Kingdom, the NYC/NJ area, Dallas, and with a few shows in Europe including the Sweden Rock Festival and a return to Poland.

In February 2008, Craig Goldy accompanied Budgie on their first tour of Australia, and continued playing with the band as 'guest guitarist' for all their shows.

The news of his death was confirmed by drummer Steve Williams on Facebook: "My friend and fellow BUDGIE band member John Thomas sadly passed away last night.

[20] After more than a decade of health issues, including an aortic aneurysm and Stickler syndrome, Shelley died on 10 January 2022, at the age of 71.

[2] Although Budgie remained quite obscure during their early career, many future stars of hard rock/metal have cited them as an important influence and covered their songs, including Iron Maiden,[23] Metallica,[24] Megadeth,[25] Van Halen,[26] Melvins,[27] Queens of the Stone Age, Alice in Chains,[28] and Soundgarden.