[4][5][6] They achieved success in the United States with their self-titled debut album, which provided the Top Ten hits "Don't Dream It's Over" and "Something So Strong".

[13] A year later, the group re-formed with drummer Matt Sherrod and released two further albums (Time on Earth and Intriguer), each of which reached number one in Australia.

[16] Neil Finn (vocals, guitar, piano) and drummer Paul Hester (the Cheks, Deckchairs Overboard) were former members of New Zealand band Split Enz, which spent part of 1975–6 in Australia and several years in England.

[9] The Mullanes formed in Melbourne in early 1985 with Finn, Hester, Seymour, and guitarist Craig Hooper (the Reels) and first performed on 11 June.

[2][17][18] Former Split Enz keyboardist Eddie Rayner produced the track "Can't Carry On" and was asked to join the band.

He toured with them in 1988, but was unable to become a full member due to family commitments.Thanks to their Split Enz connection, the newly formed Crowded House had an established Australasian fanbase.

[23] In June 1987, nearly a year after its release, Crowded House finally reached number one on the Kent Music Report Album Charts.

[5][6] Crowded House undertook a short tour of Australia and Canada to promote the album, with Eddie Rayner on keyboards.

[8] Despite the success of the album, Tim Finn left Crowded House suddenly part-way through the UK leg of the Woodface tour, a few hours before the band were due to play at King Tut's Club in Glasgow on 1 November 1991.

[11] For their fourth album, Together Alone, Crowded House used producer Martin Glover (aka "Youth") and invited touring musician Mark Hart (guitar and keyboards) to become a permanent band member.

The album was released in October 1993 and sold well internationally on the strength of lead single "Distant Sun" and followup "Private Universe".

In June 1996, at a press conference to announce the release of their greatest hits album Recurring Dream, Neil revealed that Crowded House were to disband.

The album's three new songs, which were released as singles, were "Instinct", "Not the Girl You Think You Are" and "Everything Is Good for You", which featured backing vocals from Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder.

In January 2007, the group publicly announced their reformation and on 23 February, after 20 days of auditions, former Beck drummer Matt Sherrod joined Finn, Seymour and Mark Hart to complete the new line up.

[17] As Sherrod and Hart had not participated in the initial sessions, four new tracks were recorded with producer Steve Lillywhite including the album's first single "Don't Stop Now".

The next day, Finn and Seymour were interviewed on Rove Live and the band, with Hart and Sherrod, performed "Don't Stop Now" to promote the new album, which was titled Time on Earth.

On 14 March 2009 the band joined Neil's older son, Liam Finn, on stage for three songs at the Sound Relief concert in Melbourne.

The band sold recordings of the shows on the Intriguer tour on USB flash drives and made individual live tracks available for free download.

[40] In November 2011 an Australian tour featured artists involved with the "She Will Have Her Way" and "He Will Have His Way" projects, including Paul Dempsey, Clare Bowditch, Seeker Lover Keeper (Sarah Blasko, Sally Seltmann and Holly Throsby), Alexander Gow (Oh Mercy) and Lior.

"[43] In September 2015, the song "Help is Coming" from the Afterglow album, was released as a download and limited edition 7" single to raise money for the charity Save the Children.

Neil Finn said of "Help Is Coming"..."It was always a song about refugees, even if at the time I was thinking about the immigrants setting off on ships from Europe to America, looking for a better life for their families.

There is such a huge scale and urgency to the current refugee crises that barely a day goes by without some crushing image or news account to confront us.

"[44] Neil Finn confirmed in a 2016 interview with the Dutch newspaper Volkskrant that Crowded House had been on indefinite hiatus since the end of the Intriguer tour.

[45] Later that year, however, he and Seymour announced a series of concerts at the Sydney Opera House to mark the 20th anniversary of the Farewell to the World show (24 November 1996).

In April 2018, Neil Finn joined Fleetwood Mac, along with Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, as a full-time member in the wake of Lindsey Buckingham's departure from the band.

"[50] In December 2019, Neil Finn announced that the new Crowded House line-up would consist of himself, Seymour, the band's original producer Mitchell Froom and his sons Liam and Elroy.

"[52] The track serves as the second single to the band's seventh studio album, Dreamers Are Waiting, which was announced on the same day for release on 4 June 2021.

AllMusic said that Finn "has consistently proven his knack for crafting high-quality songs that combine irresistible melodies with meticulous lyrical detail.

Seymour collaborated with Finn and Hester on the set design of some of their early music videos, including "Don't Dream It's Over" and "Better Be Home Soon".

For the first four albums Mombassa and Noel Crombie, who had been the main designer of Split Enz's artwork, assisted Seymour in creating sets and costumes.