In 1992, musicians Boh Runga and Andrew Maclaren moved to Auckland from Christchurch and recorded the single "Ride" with guitarist Joel Haines.

1994 to 1995 saw Runga and Maclaren recruit guitarist Simon McCormack, followed by bass player Kurt Shanks to form a four-piece, at that time the name Stellar was chosen and the first line up of the band began writing, recording and gigging around Auckland.

In 1998 the band signed on with Sony BMG music NZ, later that year they released their first commercial single "What You Do (Bastard)".

2006 saw the release of their third album Something Like Strangers, producing the singles "Whiplash" and "For a While", the latter featuring Andy Lovegrove of the band Breaks Co-Op.

The band recently reformed in 2017, playing a cover of Sharon O'Neill's 1983 single"Maxine" at the New Zealand Music Awards that same year.