During live performances, the band is joined by longtime touring members, Ben Lanz (trombone, synthesizers) and Kyle Resnick (trumpet, keyboards, backing vocals).

Leaving behind their day jobs, the National signed with Beggars Banquet Records and released their third studio album, Alligator (2005), to widespread critical acclaim.

Their ninth studio album, First Two Pages of Frankenstein, was released on April 28, 2023, and featured appearances from Sufjan Stevens, Taylor Swift, and Phoebe Bridgers.

"[8] Several of the members continued to work day jobs, including being involved in New York's dot-com boom, while performing free Sunday night shows regularly at Lower East Side venue Luna Lounge.

Their first album, The National, was eventually released in 2001 on Brassland Records, a label founded by band members Aaron and Bryce Dessner, along with their friend Alec Hanley Bemis.

[14] Alligator brought the band increased attendance at concerts, including sold-out shows at The Troubadour in Los Angeles and Webster Hall in New York.

The song "Start a War" was featured on the series Defying Gravity, Brothers and Sisters, House, Parenthood, Friday Night Lights, as well as the film Warrior.

That summer they played many festivals in North America and Europe, including Coachella, Roskilde, Sasquatch, Glastonbury, Haldern Pop, Rock Werchter, Optimus Alive!, Oxegen, Benicàssim, Lowlands, O2 Wireless, T in the Park, All Points West, and Lollapalooza.

The film, directed by filmmaker Vincent Moon, documents the lives of the band surrounding the recording of Boxer and just before a show at the London venue Koko.

On February 17, 2009, a compilation album titled Dark Was the Night was produced by Aaron and Bryce Dessner and released by 4AD (the band's new label after Beggars Banquet Records merged into 4AD).

The two-disc, 31-track compilation was released for the benefit of the Red Hot Organization, and featured a new song by the National and Nico Muhly titled "So Far Around the Bend".

The National contributed a track to Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy in September 2009, an album in support of the former Polaris front-man, who lost his wife.

During the show, the band played "About Today", and dedicated the song in memory of Gerard Smith of TV on the Radio, who had died earlier that day of lung cancer.

[41] Mistaken for Strangers has been described as "a funny, eccentric and finally deeply poignant depiction of art, family, self-sabotage and the prickly intricacies of brotherly love.

In an interview published in June 2014, Berninger stated that the National would try a new approach to writing and recording an album, with plans to start in October 2014.

"[49] On October 16, 2015, the band debuted a new song called "Roman Candle" (which would later be released as "Walk It Back" on Sleep Well Beast) at Troubadour in Los Angeles.

[66] On April 4, 2019, the band released their second single and closing song off I Am Easy to Find titled "Light Years", accompanied by a music video starring Alicia Vikander.

At the show, the band performed three new songs: "Grease in Your Hair (Birdie)", "Tropic Morning News (Haversham)" and "Weird Goodbyes" – then known as "Bathwater (Mount Auburn)".

[72] A fourth new song, "Ice Machines", was premiered in Paris; a fifth, "Space Invader (Threaded Gold)", was performed during the band's set at the Newport Folk Festival in July.

So in Germany, we actually had some shows boycotted because they thought we were in someway affiliated with the right-wing conservative neo-Nazi party, which we had to do some press to make sure people realized that we were not associated with the Nazis.

[53] The National has been compared to Joy Division, Leonard Cohen, Interpol, Wilco, Depeche Mode, Radiohead, and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds.

In 2018, Bryce Dessner's collaboration with pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque formalized into the group, Dream House Quartet, with the addition of guitarist and composer David Chalmin of La Terre Invisible.

[94] Dessner is a producer and composer, having worked with Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Alejandro Iñarritú,[95] Paul Simon,[96] Sufjan Stevens,[97] Caroline Shaw, and Taylor Swift.

[99] Prior to his solo project he released albums with Pfarmers, a supergroup consisting of himself, Danny Seim of Menomena and Lackthereof, and Dave Nelson of Sufjan Stevens and St. Vincent.

[105][106] In July 2008, the band designed and sold a T-shirt featuring Obama's image above the words "Mr. November," a reference to both their song from Alligator and the month of the U.S. presidential election.

[114][115][116] Curated by Aaron and Bryce Dessner, this album comprised songs by bands and artists such as Arcade Fire, Grizzly Bear, Beirut, David Byrne, Sufjan Stevens, Spoon, The Dirty Projectors, Feist and the National, among others.

[120][121] Red Hot Organization founder and director, John Carlin, was quoted as saying, "Dark Was the Night encapsulated the spirit and creativity of a new generation of musicians whose work struck a chord and got people to actually purchase the album and raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight AIDS.

[126] The compilation, which took four years to record, is a wide-ranging tribute to the songwriting and experimentalism of the band, and features over 60 artists from varied musical backgrounds.

[128][129] Day of the Dead features collaborations and recordings from a diverse group of artists including Wilco, Flaming Lips, Bruce Hornsby, Justin Vernon, the National, The War on Drugs, Kurt Vile, Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth, Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo, Jenny Lewis, Lucius, The Tallest Man on Earth, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Perfume Genius, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Senegalese collective Orchestra Baobab, composer Terry Riley and his son Gyan Riley, electronic artist Tim Hecker, So Percussion, jazz pianist Vijay Iyer and Bela Fleck.

A Day of the Dead live performance took place in August 2016 at the second Eaux Claires Festival, featuring the band as well as Jenny Lewis, Matthew Houck, Lucius, Will Oldham, Sam Amidon, Richard Reed Parry, Justin Vernon, Bruce Hornsby, So Percussion, Ruban Nielson.