The band formed in Dayton, Ohio, United States, in 1959 as the Ohio Untouchables and initially included members Robert Ward[3] (vocals/guitar), Marshall "Rock" Jones (bass), Clarence "Satch" Satchell (saxophone/guitar), Cornelius Johnson (drums), and Ralph "Pee Wee" Middlebrooks (trumpet/trombone).

[5] Ward had proved to be an unreliable leader, who would sometimes walk off the stage during gigs, forcing the group to stop playing.

They replaced Ward with 21-year-old Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner (guitar), who would become the group's frontman, and added Greg Webster (drums).

[6] The group added two more singers, Bobby Lee Fears and Dutch Robinson, and became the house band for the New York-based Compass Records.

After again re-forming with a line-up including Bonner, Satchell, Middlebrooks, Jones, Webster, trumpeter Bruce Napier, vocalist Charles Dale Allen, trombonist Marvin Pierce, and keyboardist Walter "Junie" Morrison, the Players had a minor hit on the Detroit-based Westbound label with "Pain" (1971), which reached the top 40 of the Billboard R&B chart.

Dale Allen shared co-lead vocals on some of the early Westbound material, although he was not credited on their albums Pain and Pleasure.

By then, their line-up had changed again, with keyboardist Billy Beck instead of Morrison and Jimmy "Diamond" Williams on drums instead of Webster.

Meanwhile, keyboardist Walter "Junie" Morrison recorded three albums on his own before joining Funkadelic as the force behind their hit One Nation Under a Groove.

An internet story in advance of a June 2017 concert indicated that Billy Beck, Jimmy "Diamond" Williams, Clarence "Chet" Willis, and Robert "Rumba" Jones are still performing.

[4] In August 2013, the Ohio Players were inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame at the Waetjen Auditorium of Cleveland State University as part of the inaugural class.