[3] McKee had formerly been a member of a band named the Pretty Flowers with Duglas T. Stewart, Norman Blake, Janice McBride and Sean Dickson.

[6] After playing their first gigs, they signed to Pastel's 53rd and 3rd label and recorded the Son of a Gun EP with him producing, released in summer 1987.

The band broke up shortly after its release due jointly to the dissolution of 53rd & 3rd and the end of Kelly and McKee's romantic relationship.

Kelly went on to found the band Captain America (later renamed Eugenius after legal threats from Marvel Comics), supporting Nirvana on their UK tour.

[11] The Vaselines song Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam was played in 1993 by Nirvana in their MTV Unplugged in New York concert as a cover (renamed as “Jesus Doesn’t Want Me for a Sunbeam.”) In the summer of 2006, McKee and Kelly took to the stage together for the first time since 1990 to perform a set of Vaselines songs, as part of a joint tour to promote their individual solo albums.

The Vaselines reformed (minus the old rhythm section) on 24 April 2008 for a charity show for the Malawi Orphan Support group at Glasgow's MONO venue.

The band also performed at Sub Pop Records' 20th Anniversary SP20 music festival on 12 July at Marymoor Park just outside Seattle WA.

[15][16] The band toured the U.S. in May 2009, playing six dates, starting in Los Angeles on 10 May, then heading up the west coast to San Francisco, Portland and Seattle.

[19] The band were chosen personally by Belle and Sebastian to perform at their second Bowlie Weekender festival presented by All Tomorrow's Parties in the UK in December 2010.

The band performed a cover version of the Nirvana song "Lithium" as part of a Spin Magazine's exclusive album, Newermind.