After lead singer Elliot Lurie left Looking Glass in 1974, the three remaining members—keyboardist Larry Gonsky, bassist Pieter Sweval, and drummer Jeff Grob (who adopted the stage name Joe X. Dube)—teamed up with vocalist Michael Lee Smith and guitarist Brendan Harkin to continue the band, eventually changing the name to Fallen Angels.

However, when the band returned to the studio the following day, their manager presented them with a rough sketch of the current (STARZ) logo, which he had drawn on a napkin.

Kiss manager Bill Aucoin was introduced to STARZ via his right-hand man Sean Delaney, who had previously befriended Sweval.

Aucoin began representing Starz in late 1975, helping them to get signed to Capitol Records in early 1976.

The album also contained a controversial track in the song "Pull the Plug", about a man ending his comatose wife's life support.

Their first major hit single, "Cherry Baby", in the spring of 1977 came from their second album, Violation, produced by Jack Douglas of Aerosmith fame.

Their third studio album, the self-produced Attention Shoppers!, was more in the vein of power pop than heavy metal and featured a Cheap Trick influence in songs such as "X-Ray Spex", and "Hold on to the Night".

In late 1980 Starz reunited with a lineup of Smith, Ranno, Harkin, Davis, with Doug Madick on drums.

This particular UK tour never materialized; however, the surviving original members (Smith, Ranno, Harkin, and Dube), with new bassist George DiAna, regrouped that same year for a number of successful club dates, culminating in the two-day, 2005 "Starzfest" in Teaneck, New Jersey, which featured the entire band joined by Messano and Davis.

Former Ted Nugent drummer Cliff Davies filled in for Dube at a Starz show in San Francisco, California, in October 2007.

Starz went back out on tour in 2019, co-headlining with Angel on East Coast (April) and Midwest (May) show dates.

Starz and Angel were supporting acts for Ace Frehley on May 4, 2019, at Chesterfield Amphitheater in St. Louis County, Missouri.

Several 1980s glam metal artists, including Poison, Jon Bon Jovi of Bon Jovi,[2] Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe, Sebastian Bach of Skid Row, Lars Ulrich of Metallica, and Twisted Sister [3] cite Starz as a primary influence.