The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist Jacoby Shaddix, guitarist Jerry Horton, drummer Dave Buckner, bassist Will James, and trombonist Ben Luther.

Papa Roach's formation began in January 1993 when lead singer Jacoby Shaddix and drummer Dave Buckner met on the Vacaville High School football field.

Its success attracted the attention of Warner Music Group, which, as part of a development deal, provided a modest amount of funding for the production of a five-track promotional demo CD.

[3] In an interview with HitQuarters, Baumgardner stated, "At first, I wasn't really convinced it would work out, but then I saw a video of them performing at a club – I saw all these kids going wild, knowing the songs by heart – and that's when I realized that they definitely had potential.

[4][5] The album featured songs from their earlier independent releases, including "Infest," "Last Resort," "Broken Home," and "Dead Cell" from the Warner Bros. demo CD; "Revenge In Japanese" as "Revenge" and "Thrown Away" from their 5 Tracks Deep EP; and "Legacy," "Binge," "Snakes," and a softer version of the originally heavier "Tightrope" from the Let 'Em Know EP.

[12] After touring worldwide, the band returned to the studio to record their third album, initially titled Born to Rock, but later renamed Lovehatetragedy.

[34] On October 10, 2006, a String Quartet tribute album titled Perfect Murder: Strung Out on Papa Roach was released by Vitamin Records.

[36] On April 25, 2007, it was announced that drummer Dave Buckner would be sitting out the band's touring schedule due to personal matters, with expectations for him to rejoin the group shortly thereafter.

"[39] In an interview in February 2008 with 99.7 The Blitz, Shaddix stated that the band was working on their next album, initially titled Days of War, Nights of Love.

"Lifeline" was nominated for Fuse TV's Best Video of 2009 contest, surpassing Metallica's "All Nightmare Long", Daughtry's "No Surprise", Shinedown's "Sound of Madness", and Paramore's "Ignorance".

On February 23, 2010, Jerry Horton officially announced that the band would be releasing a new album, which was recorded during the last leg of their 2009 co-headlining tour with Shinedown in Binghamton, New York.

"[52] Starting April 25, 2011, Papa Roach headlined the Raid The Nation tour, with the first leg featuring Finger Eleven.

"[61] Papa Roach began touring in 2012 with co-headlining dates alongside Shinedown, supported by acts such as Adelitas Way and In This Moment.

Additionally, Papa Roach participated on the main stage of the 2012 Uproar Festival, performing alongside Shinedown, Godsmack, Staind, and Adelitas Way.

[65] On September 8, 2012, Papa Roach announced dates for a European tour that would include performances in Belarus, Russia, Poland, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and the UK.

[67] Following these shows, they toured the United States with Stone Sour, starting on January 20, 2013,[68] and performed on the main stage at the 2013 Download Festival at Donington Park, UK, on Friday, June 14.

On April 24, 2014, in an interview with Loudwire, Jacoby Shaddix disclosed additional song titles from the upcoming album, including "Never Have to Say Goodbye" and "Face Everything and Rise.

[93] Both "Help" and "Born for Greatness" reached number 1 on the Mainstream Rock Charts, marking the first time the band had two songs from a single album achieve this feat.

[94] In October 2017, the band revealed they had already written six songs for the follow-up to Crooked Teeth,[95] with plans to begin recording the album in June 2018.

[100] On December 25, 2020, the band released a compilation titled 20/20, which included the Infest studio recordings they had previously uploaded to YouTube, as well as re-recordings of "Tightrope," "Last Resort," "Scars," "Getting Away with Murder," and "Between Angels and Insects."

[100][101] On August 1, 2021, the band released a new single titled "Swerve," featuring Jason Aalon Butler of Fever 333 and American rapper Sueco.

[108][109][110] It was released on the same day in as the band kicked off their European Tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of Infest in Berlin, Germany, that is scheduled to conclude in Liverpool, England on February 9 at the M&S Bank Arena.

[111] "Even If It Kills Me" was used at WWE's Royal Rumble event as the theme song for Cody Rhodes vs Kevin Owens's ladder match promo package.

[122][129][130] Before Papa Roach released their major label albums, Jacoby Shaddix's singing style was compared to Chino Moreno and Lynn Strait of Snot.

Shaddix has added this remark in another interview: "We're a band that tries to walk that line between metal, hardcore, punk rock and pop music, and we do our best at trying to make it all cool".

[135] Prior to the release of The Connection, guitarist Jerry Horton said in an interview by VerdamMnis Magazine that "It's kind of a natural thing for us, we've always been changing throughout the years.

[51] The band's influences include Faith No More, Social Distortion, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Wu-Tang Clan, Fugees, Refused, Queen, and Led Zeppelin.

Alternative Press stated: "Despite distancing themselves from their distinctive sound in recent years, Papa Roach's early output shaped the aspect of nü metal that the mainstream embraced with open arms—riff-laden, radio-friendly (at least, after a few bleeps) singles with dark, earworm lyrics designed to upset parents.

Jacoby Shaddix's in-your-face tones introduced many teenagers to their nü-metal awakening, supported by completely singable and seductive guitar lines that made this outfit so instrumental in the genre.

magazine remarked: "Straining vocal cords and detonating dancefloors with 'Last Resort,' tugging the heartstrings with 'Broken Home,' and embedding themselves under our skin with 'Between Angels And Insects,' Jacoby Shaddix's Californian group didn't just deliver an overload of angst—they unleashed every ounce of emotion through arguably the catchiest songwriting nu metal would ever see.