The group consists of guitarist and composer Jun Senoue and principal vocalist Johnny Gioeli.

While preparing music for Sonic Adventure, he contacted Gioeli to perform the game's theme song, "Open Your Heart".

They also recorded the soundtrack for NASCAR Arcade under the name "Sons of Angels", which was released in Japan as the album Thrill of the Feel (2000).

Afterward, Senoue and Gioeli continued recording music for further Sonic titles, as well as their own original songs.

After graduating from college, Jun Senoue was hired by Sega in 1993 to compose music for video games.

[4] In addition to Senoue and Gioeli, Naoto Shibata and Hirotsugu Homma of Loudness played the bass and drums, respectively, for the songs,[7] and the group took the name Sons of Angels, from the title of the song Senoue recorded with Eric Martin.

[7][8] During the development of Sonic Adventure 2, Senoue and Gioeli reunited to record the title track, "Live & Learn".

[10] Senoue recorded the intro to the song for the game's trial edition; he worked on the rest of the arrangement later and completed it within one day.

He initially was nervous and asked Senoue if his lyrics were okay on multiple occasions, but despite this, "Live & Learn" became one of the most memorable songs on the Sonic Adventure 2 soundtrack according to Sean Aitchison of Fanbyte.

[11] According to Senoue, Crush 40 is specifically the band of himself and Gioeli, though tracks "It Doesn't Matter" and "Escape from the City" (sung by Tony Harnell and Ted Poley, respectively) were included on the album.

[14] Senoue was also credited as a soloist on "Before This", a song from the 2009 Hardline album Leaving the End Open.

[5] On March 29 and 30, 2012, Crush 40 performed live at Shibuya GUILTY in Tokyo, with Sonic Team producer Takashi Iizuka in the audience.

[5] In 2020, Gioeli re-recorded "Song of Hope" with Bulgarian vocalist Sevi, as a way of reconnecting with fans during the coronavirus pandemic.

[20] On June 23, 2021, Sega held the Sonic the Hedgehog 30th Anniversary Symphony with Crush 40 as one of the participating acts.

[32] In February 2024, following the use of its instrumental in a teaser, Gioeli confirmed that "Live & Learn" would be featured in Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

[34] In December 2024, Gioeli sued Sega of America, claiming ownership of the master recording and co-ownership of the composition of "Live & Learn."

[10] Reviewing the album Crush 40, Chris Greening of Video Game Music Online highlights the hard rock sound and showing of Gioeli's experience in the vocals, stating that "Live & Learn" is "an ecstatic Americana rock anthem featuring Johnny at his best", while also stating the instrumentals are inspired by early 1990s heavy metal.

When we got together to write stuff for Shadow [the Hedgehog], we found that our fresh ideas were a lot different to the songs we'd written back in 2002 – our sound had changed.

According to Aitchison, "The band embedded themselves in the memories and hearts of an entire generation of Sonic fans.