In May 2001 the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), as part of its 75th anniversary celebrations, named "Cool Change", written by Shorrock, as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time.

The group have undergone numerous personnel changes, with over 30 members since their formation, including John Farnham as lead singer after Shorrock first departed in 1982.

They relocated to Melbourne and in 1972 were renamed as Mississippi, a harmony country rock band, where late that year Birtles joined on guitar and vocals and Pellicci on drums.

[6] They achieved a number-one hit, for eight consecutive weeks, on the Go-Set National Top 40 with a novelty cover version of the Rays' song "Daddy Cool".

[7] Shorrock had been the lead singer of a pop band, the Twilights (1964–69), and a country rock group, Axiom, from 1969 to 1971 (alongside singer-songwriter Brian Cadd).

[8] In late 1974, Birtles, Goble and Pellicci met with talent manager Glenn Wheatley (former bass player of the Masters Apprentices) in London, with a view to forming a new band.

[11] In Birtles' autobiography, Every Day of My Life, he explains how the band came to change its name: [Shorrock] and I were sitting in the back seat of a car driving down Princes Highway to play a gig at The Golf View Hotel in Geelong.

[3][21] Australian music journalist Ed Nimmervoll listed the classic line-up of the band as Birtles, Briggs, Goble, McArdle, Pellicci and Shorrock.

"[25] She reviewed the album, which had no Australian references and felt they were aiming at the US West Coast scene with influences from David Crosby, Graham Nash and Little Feat apparent.

[26] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic commented on the US release, "laidback, sweet country-rock, [it] has a similar sound to the band's debut, but the melodies are a little sharper and catchier, making [it] a better, more fully-rounded collection.

[24] During 1977 they consistently toured, mostly in the US, headlining in smaller venues and appearing in stadiums on multi-billed shows supporting the Doobie Brothers, Supertramp and America.

[4][28] AllMusic's Mike DeGagne praised Shorrock's vocals, which give it "the perfect MOR sound, draping the tracks with his cool, breezy style that is much more apparent and effectual here than on the band's earlier efforts.

[42] The line-up of Birtles, Briggs, Goble, Nelson, Pellicci and Shorrock recorded Little River Band's sixth studio album,[43] Time Exposure, which was released in August 1981, with George Martin (the Beatles) producing.

[12]: 179, 185, 189–90 In September 1982, Farnham told Susan Moore of The Australian Women's Weekly how easy it was to fit into the group although both recording and stage work had differed.

[18][24] In July 1985, LRB performed on the Oz for Africa benefit concert (part of the global Live Aid program): "Don't Blame Me", "Full Circle", "Night Owls", and "Playing to Win".

[53] The reformed group signed new management with Geoffrey Schuhkraft and Paul Palmer, who assisted the line-up of Goble, Housden, Nelson, Pellicci and Shorrock in establishing a holding company, We Two Pty.

In 1989 the group recorded "Listen to Your Heart", written by Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg, for the film soundtrack of The Karate Kid Part III.

[68] Nelson immediately returned home and Hal Tupaea substituted on bass guitar for the New Zealand dates of the band's tour in November 1993.

Gildea and Wade left early in 2000 with Australian Greg Hind joining on vocals and guitars and Nelson taking over as lead singer.

The line-up of Hind, Housden, Murphy, Nelson and Reither recorded two studio albums, Where We Started From (November 2000) and Test of Time (June 2004).

[56] Housden's company, We Two Pty Ltd, lodged an action against Birtles, Goble and Shorrock seeking to stop BSG from using the LRB trademarks, logos and band name.

[56] A further legal case in late July 2005 was also settled out of court which allowed the trio to advertise their Little River Band connection but not to perform under that name.

[79] At the end of 2004, Murphy and Reither left LRB and Chris Marion joined on keyboards, while Kip Raines briefly took on drumming duties until replaced by Billy Thomas in early 2005.

[citation needed] Little River Band were scheduled to appear on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in January 2015 to promote the group's 40th anniversary.

[86] In September 2015, Little River Band received Casino Musical Entertainer of the Year at the Annual G2E Awards ceremony at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.

[103] In November 2020 the current lineup released Black Tie which features Little River Band's greatest hits performed with an orchestra (arranged by keyboardist Marion) recorded at a series of concerts with the Craig Turley Rock Symphony.

[109] In September 2022 the band founders announced the remastered and expanded re-release of their first 10 albums, alongside two new compilations, Ultimate Hits and Masterpieces, which were released on 14 October 2022.

[112] In May 2001 the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), as part of its 75th anniversary celebrations, named "Cool Change" as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time.

[75][114] The presentation acknowledged the band's three decade career and thirteen official members and was accepted by the 1976 to 1978 line-up of Birtles, Briggs, Goble, Pellicci, McArdle and Shorrock.

[121] Shorrock was appointed a member of the Order of Australia (AM) on 26 January 2020, awarded for significant service to the performing arts as a singer, songwriter and entertainer.