They are most successful for their role as a house band and comedy troupe on the PBS children's geography game show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?.

The founding members of Rockapella consisted of Brown University alumni Sean Altman, Elliott Kerman, Steve Keyes, and David Stix.

Having been in High Jinks the longest, Altman was the only connection between the other three members; when they found each other in New York City following their graduation, they decided to form Rockapella.

Their performance of Altman's signature arrangement of the calypso novelty standard "Zombie Jamboree" caught the eye of producer Gerard Brown.

Between Leonard joining the band and the start of their television break, Rockapella began to pick up fame, starring in a Whoopi Goldberg HBO comedy special Chez Whoopi, a Taco Bell commercial, and opened for acts such as Chuck Berry, Styx, Billy Joel, and their a cappella idols The Persuasions, who the group had met on the Do It A Cappella special.

Jeff Thacher joined Rockapella as the band's permanent vocal percussionist in 1993, although he only appeared on Carmen Sandiego during its fifth and final season two years later.

[2] On the final episode of Carmen Sandiego, Sean Altman memorably had his blonde braids cut by show host Greg Lee.

[8] At the beginning of 2011, the band's cover of "It's A Small World" from their album Comfort & Joy, was featured in a TV commercial for the animated film Gnomeo and Juliet.