Their biggest success came in 1994 with their third album, Throwing Copper, which sold eight million copies in the U.S.[1] The band had a string of hit singles in the mid-1990s, including "Lightning Crashes", which stayed at the top of the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for ten consecutive weeks and the Modern Rock Tracks (now Alternative Songs) chart for nine weeks from February 25 to April 22, 1995.

They went through various different names, including Action Front, Paisley Blues, and Club Fungus, before settling on Public Affection in January 1987.

[6] When the band graduated from high school, they recorded a self-released cassette of original songs, titled The Death of a Dictionary, in 1989.

[7][8] Under the new name, the band entered the studio with producer Jerry Harrison (of Talking Heads) and recorded the EP Four Songs.

The single "Operation Spirit (The Tyranny of Tradition)" went to number nine on the Modern Rock chart and was followed by their debut album, 1991's Mental Jewelry, which Harrison again produced.

"Lightning Crashes" also stayed at the top of the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for ten consecutive weeks.

The band appeared on NBC's Saturday Night Live, where they played "I Alone" and "Selling the Drama", and they performed for the first time in the UK, on The Word.

[1] The success of Throwing Copper helped 1997's Secret Samadhi (co-produced by the band and Jay Healy) to reach the number one position in its debut on the US album chart.

The album contained four Modern Rock hit singles, but failed to match its predecessor's success, with sales reaching two million.

Jerry Harrison returned as co-producer for 1999's The Distance to Here, which entered the US album chart at number four and featured the hit single "The Dolphin's Cry".

The first single was "Simple Creed", which featured a rap by Tricky, but the events of 9/11, which occurred a week before V was released, meant that the melancholic "Overcome" received significant airplay and became the album's selling point.

In May 2003, the band released the Jim Wirt-produced Birds of Pray, which reached number 28 on the US album chart, boosted by the unexpected success of the single "Heaven", Live's first U.S.

On season five of American Idol, finalist Chris Daughtry was accused of performing Live's version of Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line" and claiming it as his own interpretation.

[11] On September 14, 2007, Live released Radiant Sea: A Collection of Bootleg Rarities and Two New Songs, their first album since 1989 on their own Action Front Records label.

[citation needed] Kowalczyk recorded his solo album Alive, and the other band members formed a group with Kevin Martin and Sean Hennesy of Candlebox, called The Gracious Few.

They performed with new touring members, including Gracious Few bandmate Sean Hennesy on rhythm guitar and Alexander Lefever on keyboards.

During 2014–2015, Kowalczyk embarked on a worldwide tour, playing acoustic "unplugged" shows celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the release of Throwing Copper.

Zak Loy accompanied Kowalczyk on this tour, playing guitar, mandolin, pedal steel, and singing backing vocals.

[24] Although the primary reason for the interview was to promote new music by LaBelle that Taylor had worked on, it marked the first time that the two former bandmates had publicly appeared together since 2009.

Fueling speculation over a possible reunion, the Live Facebook page returned on November 16, 2016, with an early picture of the band's original lineup and a new logo.

Later that day, Live's Twitter and Facebook pages announced that the band's original lineup had reunited with tour dates in 2017.

[5] In a November 2022 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, former lead singer Chris Shinn confirmed that Dahlheimer and Gracey have since been let go as well.

[30] In February 2023, Rolling Stone released a detailed article on the discord within the band, mostly focusing on the issues between Chad Taylor and former business partner Billy Hynes.