The band was signed to Def American Recordings in 1989 by producer George Drakoulias and released their debut album, Shake Your Money Maker, the following year.

As of August 2023, the current lineup of the band includes the Robinson brothers, longtime bassist Sven Pipien, and new members Nico Bereciartua (lead guitar), Cully Symington (drums) and Erik Deutsch (keyboards).

[7] Gorman played on the subsequent A&M demos in Carrboro, North Carolina, during mid and late 1987, although as a guest drummer at first until he officially joined Mr. Crowe's Garden later that year.

[11] Their cover of Otis Redding's "Hard to Handle",[7] and acoustic ballad "She Talks to Angels", both achieved top 30 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1991.

Due to the prevalence of Chuck Leavell's piano and organ parts on the first release, in 1991 the band hired a keyboardist of its own, Eddie Harsch.

After replacing guitarist Jeff Cease with Marc Ford from blues-rock power trio Burning Tree, the band released its second album The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion in 1992.

The effort spawned the singles "Remedy", "Sting Me", "Thorn in My Pride" and "Hotel Illness", all of which topped the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart.

The cover featured a picture of a woman's crotch wearing a U.S. flag thong with visible pubic hair, which was taken from a 1976 issue of Hustler magazine.

[13][14] As some stores would not carry the album because of the cover, a different version was released simultaneously with a solid black background, showing only the triangle featuring the flag.

[15] Guitarist Marc Ford was fired and bassist Johnny Colt subsequently left the group, dissolving the Crowes' line-up for the previous three albums.

[7] By Your Side was released in January 1999; the album stripped away the more adventurous sounds of Amorica and Three Snakes and One Charm in favor of leaner, soul-influenced songs.

In May 2001, the band released Lions on Virgin mogul Richard Branson's V2 record label; the album peaked at number 20 on the charts.

Throughout the rest of 2001, the band embarked on the "Listen Massive" headlining tour in support of Lions, which spanned Europe and Japan before concluding with 36 U.S. shows.

The second show at The Fillmore was filmed in high definition and released later in 2006 as Freak 'n' Roll into the Fog on DVD, Blu-ray and audio CD.

The album featured performances of old and new Black Crowes material mixed with covers, taken from a three-night run at The Roxy in Los Angeles in early 2006.

Warpaint was critically acclaimed and the album landed at number 5 on the Billboard 200, the band's best debut since The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion topped the charts.

[1] The band launched an international tour March 24 when they played the East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival in Australia.

Also that year, the Black Crowes filed a lawsuit against country singer Gretchen Wilson, claiming that she infringed upon their copyright for the song "Jealous Again".

Continuing the trend set with Warpaint, the Crowes incorporated more of their country and bluegrass roots in these recordings as well as venturing into new avenues such as disco in the song "I Ain't Hidin'".

These included festivals in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as a few headlining shows where, comparable to the U.S. tour, they played a 90-minute acoustic and 90-minute electric set.

[25] They returned to hiatus in December that year, but played a show in Boston the following February (a benefit event for the Big Brothers association).

Chris Robinson has performed a few solo acoustic shows during which he played several Black Crowes songs, including "Hotel Illness" and "Bad Luck, Blue Eyes Goodbye".

The band includes former Crowes Audley Freed and Adam MacDougall and Andy Hess as well as Marcus King and Tony Leone.

[33] In late 2016, he announced the formation of The Magpie Salute which also includes former Black Crowes members Marc Ford and Sven Pipien.

Steve Gorman continues to perform with Trigger Hippy, a band he co-founded in 2009 (which also featured Jackie Greene until late 2015 when he left to focus on his solo career).

[37][38] In late 2019, during an interview on The Howard Stern Show, Chris and Rich Robinson announced that they had resolved their differences (the brothers had not spoken in the years since the band's 2015 split) and were planning a 2020 tour to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Shake Your Money Maker.

[2][40] This line-up premiered at The Bowery Ballroom in New York City on November 11, 2019, where they played the entire Shake Your Money Maker album.

On January 8, 2021, The Black Crowes announced a 30th Anniversary multi-format re-issue of Shake Your Money Maker, releasing a previously unheard track "Charming Mess" in conjunction.