In late 1981, bassist Brian Wheat and guitarist Frank Hannon formed a band named City Kidd, which evolved into Tesla.

[1] By 1984, vocalist Jeff Keith, guitarist Tommy Skeoch, and drummer Troy Luccketta had joined the band, forming their classic lineup that appeared on all of the albums and live shows during their initial run.

[2] Their debut album, Mechanical Resonance, was released in 1986, which produced two hit singles, "Modern Day Cowboy" and their cover of "Little Suzi" (originally by Ph.D.).

[4] The album helped solidify the band's growing reputation and fan base, and produced five hit singles, including the power ballad "Love Song".

[4] The Japanese edition of Bust a Nut contained the previously unreleased cover of Led Zeppelin's "The Ocean".

This band eventually morphed to include Jeff Keith and resurfaced as Bar 7 with a single "Four Leaf Clover", from the album The World Is a Freak.

After a break of six years, the Sacramento Bee reported that the band had reformed in 2000 with the help of local radio personality Pat Martin of KRXQ.

Skeoch had left the band indefinitely to spend time with his family, and, as he later revealed on "The Classic Metal Show", other reasons; particularly his continuing problems with substance abuse.

At the end of August, Tesla announced their first world tour in 16 years with dates in Australia, Japan, and Europe in October and November 2007.

In June and July 2008, Tesla played a few shows in Europe and the US, including Sweden Rock Festival, Graspop Metal Meeting and Rocklahoma.

The band aired the album's first single, "I Wanna Live" on radio stations across the globe on August 18 and kicked off a world tour on October 1.

It features live versions of every song from the original album and includes the new single "Save That Goodness", written and produced by Phil Collen of Def Leppard.

[18] In April 2017, Tesla began working on their ninth studio album, Shock, which was produced by Collen,[19] and released on March 8, 2019.

[20][21] Tesla released the one-off single "Cold Blue Steel" in August 2021, followed a year later by "Time to Rock!".

[24][25] While promoting their album The Great Radio Controversy, the band participated in a canned food drive that allowed free concert admission to contributors, this event was incorporated into the video for "The Way It Is".

In February 2005, Tesla headlined a benefit show at the PPAC in Providence, Rhode Island, for the victims of the Station nightclub fire.

[2] Brian Wheat stated to have been influenced by classic 1960s and 1970s rock bands like Led Zeppelin, Queen, Bad Company and the Beatles.

[28] Tesla's first two albums are often classified as glam metal,[29][30] though AllMusic's Steve Huey opined that the band's blues and 1970s hard rock influences set them apart from their contemporaries.