After a series of singles and EPs, Tame Impala's debut studio album, Innerspeaker, was released in 2010; it was certified gold in Australia and well received by critics.

Parker's 2012 follow-up, Lonerism, was also acclaimed, reaching platinum status in Australia and receiving a Grammy Award nomination for Best Alternative Music Album.

[10][11] To transfer these recordings to a live setting, Parker enlisted the help of Dominic Simper (bass) and Jay Watson (drums), and they began playing at local gigs.

[22] The band then headlined the inaugural "Rottofest" in August 2009, an annual comedy, film and music festival held on Rottnest Island off the coast of Western Australia.

[27] Tame Impala appeared at the Australian/New Zealand Big Day Out festival in early 2010, performing alongside bands such as Muse, The Mars Volta, Kasabian and Rise Against.

"Jay and I have been recording pretty compulsively and album number two is nearing potential completion already and I'm so excited about it that I'm having trouble keeping myself from telling you all about it".

[31] On 29 November 2010, Innerspeaker won Australian youth-oriented radio network Triple J's highest honour, winning the J Award for Album of the Year.

[33] Parker said that Lonerism "represents a departure from his previous work by incorporating an expanded sonic palette, more emotional song writing, and a more pronounced narrative perspective".

It was created in a similar set up as Innerspeaker, whereby Parker wrote and recorded the majority of the album by himself at his home in Perth, Western Australia.

Additionally, Lonerism was voted number one overall by Rolling Stone, Triple J, NME, Filter, Urban Outfitters, FasterLouder and Obscure Sound's 2012 Album of the Year polls.

[42] On 18 May 2013, it was announced via Facebook that Allbrook would leave the band to focus on other musical endeavours, and that Cam Avery of Pond and The Growl would take his place.

[45] Prior to this, Parker had been touring with Tame Impala and working on other musical projects, including his disco-funk band, AAA Aardvark Getdown Services.

"[48] Describing the sound of the new album, Parker said, "I'm gonna try to make it a bit more minimal this time; only use what's needed ... instead of a supreme pizza, where you just throw everything on".

[50] Parker later stated that the inspiration behind the new polished sound of Tame Impala's third album came from listening to a Fleetwood Mac song.

One week later, on 29 April 2015, Kevin Parker held an AMA on Reddit, where he provoked fans to ask him to release a new song, then responding with "Disciples", which became the first promotional single for Currents.

[56] During the same 30 April 2015 Reddit AMA, Parker said: "Up until recently, from all of Tame Impala's record sales outside of Australia I had received.... zero dollars.

In July 2018, during an interview with Beats 1 anchor host Matt Wilkinson, Parker confirmed for the first time that he had begun working on a new Tame Impala album, adding that he was "ready to play some other songs live" and expressing an interest to headline a stage at Glastonbury Festival in 2019.

[citation needed] In October 2018, Parker played bass for rapper Travis Scott for a performance of "Skeletons/Astrothunder" on Saturday Night Live, with singer-songwriter John Mayer also part of the backing band.

[60] On 10 October, the band was scheduled to headline the first night of the annual Desert Daze festival in its new location in Moreno Beach, but had to cut their set short after three songs due to inclement weather.

He added, "In the age of streaming and the big-box festival bubble, Parker's discography seems factory-made for both a crowd of thousands and a chill night alone with a vibe-heavy playlist" and that "his music embodies the technology-driven sense of loneliness of this decade better than any of his peers".

)[72] On 20 March 2020, Parker appeared on the Weeknd's album After Hours, producing and providing background vocals on the track "Repeat After Me (Interlude)".

[74] In March 2021, the band's 2012 song "Elephant", from the album Lonerism, was covered by the Australian children's music group The Wiggles for triple j's Like a Version segment.

On 15 May 2024, it was announced Sony Music Publishing had purchased the catalog of Tame Impala from Parker for an undisclosed amount, encompassing all previous and future works.

"[81] He had earlier reassured fans of the unreleased album's progress on Instagram with images of him at work in his studio in Los Angeles and Western Australia, the latter of which was captioned "don't worry".

[87] Parker has commented on his process for making music: "I’ll have a sudden, spontaneous vision of a song, have all the parts mapped out in mind, and do my best to record it as quick as I can.

[92] Combining these two things, the shoegaze band My Bloody Valentine have influenced Parker's music with their contrasting mix of abrasive guitars and ethereal melodies.

He has "always been in love with the wall of sound as employed by My Bloody Valentine" and tries to capture the same "melancholy, dreamy feel" with Tame Impala.

[93] Parker has elaborated on achieving a similar sonic balance in his own music: "If I was singing, I wouldn't be able to match the tone of the instruments, which is really crunchy.

[94] Tame Impala live drummer Jay Watson has described Parker's music as incorporating a "shoegaze-y guitar sound, but not played in a shoegazey manner".

"[89] He has described his dream collaboration as "probably [being] someone really, really kind of fucked up", citing the electronic artists Aphex Twin and Squarepusher as examples: "You know, someone that would like scare me, but I'd be able to see how they do all their really insanely headcase stuff and I'd be able to learn from it".