[2] The venue for the Leeds Academy on Cookridge Street in the city was originally opened in 1885 by Prince Albert[3] and is a grade II listed Gothic building.

[7] The venue opened in 1992 as the Town and Country Club[7] and between 1992 and 2000 staged gigs by artists such as Placebo, Blur, Tangerine Dream, Robbie Williams,[7] The Stereophonics,[8] East 17 and The Stone Roses.

[10][7] The Kaiser Chiefs opened the venue with a gig on 8 October 2008[11] Some other well known musicians which have played at The Academy have included: Twenty One Pilots, Marina & The Diamonds, Cher Lloyd, All Time Low, Foals, Wolfmother, Levellers (band), Michael Schenker, Last Shadow Puppets, Ellie Goulding, The Pigeon Detectives,[11] MGMT, Paolo Nutini, Anthrax (American band), The Proclaimers, Robbie Williams, Madness, The Fratellis, Counting Crows, Johnny Marr, Beady Eye, The Pogues, Deftones, Band of Horses, Slayer, Crystal Castles and Hot Chip.

[5] On 6 November 2008, it was announced that Telefónica Europe (owners of the O2 Network in the UK) had become the new sponsor of all Academy venues, in a deal with music promoter Live Nation.

The deal, which lasts for five years, sees all venues rebranded "The O2 Academy", in line with Telefónica's purchase of the Millennium Dome (now The O2).