The band was most successful in the early 2000s, with Break the Cycle going five times platinum in the United States and producing a top-five Billboard Hot 100 hit with its lead single "It's Been Awhile".

In 1993, vocalist Aaron Lewis and guitarist Mike Mushok met at a Christmas party in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Mushok introduced drummer Jon Wysocki while Lewis brought in bassist Johnny April to form the band in 1995.

Staind self-released their debut album, Tormented, in November 1996, citing Tool, Faith No More, and Pantera as their influences.

[2] In October 1997, Staind acquired a concert slot through Aaron's cousin Justin Cantor with Limp Bizkit.

[3] Just prior to the performance, Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst was appalled by Staind's grotesque album cover and unsuccessfully attempted to remove them from the bill.

The album, which was co-produced by Fred Durst and Terry Date (who also produced acts like Soundgarden, Deftones, and Pantera), received comparisons to alternative metal giants Tool and Korn.

"It's Been Awhile" spent a total of 16 and 14 weeks on top of the modern and mainstream rock charts respectively, making it one of the highest joint numbers of all time.

[17] In early 2003, Staind embarked on a worldwide tour to promote the release of the follow-up to Break the Cycle, 14 Shades of Grey, which sold two million copies and debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200.

[18] 14 Shades of Grey produced two mainstream hits, "Price to Play" and "So Far Away", which spent 14 weeks on top of the rock chart.

The band's appearance at the Reading Festival during their 2003 tour had another impromptu acoustic set, this time due to equipment failure.

The singles "So Far Away" and "Price to Play" came with two unreleased tracks, "Novocaine" and "Let It Out", which were released for the special edition of the group's subsequent album Chapter V, which came out in late 2005.

Staind appeared on The Howard Stern Show on August 10, 2005 to promote Chapter V. They performed acoustic renditions of the single "Right Here" and Beetlejuice's song "This is Beetle".

In early November 2005, Staind released the limited edition 2-CD/DVD set of Chapter V. On September 6, 2006, they performed an acoustic show in the Hiro Ballroom, New York City, that was recorded for their singles collection.

The band played sixteen songs, including three covers: Tool's "Sober", Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb", and Alice in Chains's "Nutshell".

It included all the band's singles, the three covers performed at the New York show, and a remastered version of "Come Again" from Staind's first independent release Tormented.

In March 2010, Aaron Lewis stated the band would start working on their seventh studio album by the end of the year.

[22] Lewis had finished recording his country music solo EP and had started a nonprofit organization to reopen his daughter's elementary school in Worthington, Massachusetts.

[25] The band originally planned on recording with Nick Raskulinecz, but ended up working with The Illusion of Progress producer Johnny K, much to Wysocki's dismay.

[26] In December 2010, Staind posted three webisodes from the studio, which featured the band members discussing the writing and recording process of their new album.

The band continued to perform into 2012, embarking on an April and May tour with Godsmack and Halestorm,[32] and they played the Uproar Festival in August and September with Shinedown and a number of other artists.

Mike Mushok teamed up with former Three Days Grace singer Adam Gontier, former Finger Eleven drummer Rich Beddoe, and Eye Empire bassist Corey Lowery to form Saint Asonia.

I have grown in my age and become very accustomed to playing Thursday, Friday and Saturday and being able to go home for a few days and unwind and try to kind of have a life aside from doing this.

[47] Original Staind drummer Jon Wysocki died on May 18, 2024, at the age of 53, due to "issues with his liver that required him to be under the care of medical professionals".

The band doesn't rap, and though Mushok has adopted new-metal's minor-key guitar riffs, Lewis' dramatic voice and the anthemic quality of such songs as "Open Your Eyes" and "Fade" are more akin to Alice in Chains than to Korn.

Aggressive yet reflective, Break the Cycle doesn't require a poisonous abundance of testosterone to be appreciated and is better suited to solitary listening than to the mosh pit.

[67]Staind's influences include Pantera, the Doors, Suicidal Tendencies, Kiss, Van Halen, Slayer, Led Zeppelin, Sepultura, Whitesnake, the Beatles, Alice in Chains, Faith No More, Deftones, Black Sabbath, Pearl Jam, Tool, Rage Against the Machine, Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, James Taylor, Korn, and Crosby, Stills & Nash.