Crossbreed was formed in 1996 as a four-man band consisting of James Rietz, Chris Nemzek, Charlie Parker & Travis Simpkins.
It was at this time that he began developing their stage show using black lights and glow paint, which helped bring the band to the attention of the music industry.
On April 29, 2000, Crossbreed played Tampa's 98Rock's radio festival, Livestock, where they met the girls from the band Kittie.
Crossbreed was signed to Artemis by the end of the year and their debut album, Synthetic Division was released nationally on May 8, 2001.
Crossbreed then parted ways with their label in 2003 and after a show with Orgy on May 2, 2004, bassist Bishop, keyboardist "Flip", and drummer Simpkins left the band as well.
In June 2008, Crossbreed signed with "Driven Music Group", the new label of ex-Korn guitarist, Brian "Head" Welch.
Frontman James Rietz released this statement on the band's hiatus: "I will start out with nothing is official cause nothing stays gone, but, as of now, Crossbreed and its members will be moving on to other projects.
"[3] Members of Crossbreed James Rietz and Ian Hall teamed up with Tamara Kemp to form a band called "Shu-Tang".
Crossbreed reunited in 2021, featuring the return of long time vocalist James Rietz and Ian Hall (Keyboardist/Programmer/Vocalist), for a live performance on July 3, 2021, in Cleveland at The Odeon.