In 1991 they contracted with major label Pony Canyon and released their debut single, "Ame ni Utaeba", in May and their first full-length record Moon Gold in June.

In 1992 The Pillows visited England to record their second full-length album, White Incarnation, and filmed the promotional video for their second single, "Kanojo wa Shisuta".

In March of the same year, due to the success of Please Mr. Lostman The Pillows released one of the album's tracks, "Kanojo wa Kyou" as a single.

Later that year, two new singles were released, "One Life" in June and "Hybrid Rainbow" in November, which became one of The Pillows' most recognizable songs, being largely featured on concert set lists.

This record pays tribute to the Pixies in songs such as "Back Seat Dog" and "Kim Deal" and it is the first album to feature support bassist Jun Suzuki as a replacement for Kashima.

The Pillows also composed two new songs for the show, "Ride on Shooting Star" and "I Think I Can", which were later included on their greatest hits compilation album Fool on the Planet.

[3] Due to their participation in FLCL's soundtrack, The Pillows enjoyed a popularity increase, making their western fan base grow.

To commemorate the band's 15th anniversary, The Pillows re-released their 90's My Life EP with additional tracks and released a string of new material, including a new EP with re-recorded tracks previously published between 1990 and 1996, Turn Back, one document DVD, Walkin' on The Spiral, one new studio album, Good Dreams, a new single, "Sono Mirai wa Ima" and finally a tribute album, Synchronized Rockers, including covers of The Pillows played by artists such as Mr. Children, Straightener and Noodles.

In March 2005, The Pillows played their first show in the United States at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas,[4] followed by concerts in New York City and San Francisco.

In June, The Pillows returned to North America during their tour in support of the album My Foot, with several more dates in the U.S. and a show in Mexico City.

In August, the band released one more single, "Ladybird Girl", which is being used as the theme song for the Japanese version of the children's animated series Ben 10.

On the same day they also released their fifth live DVD, Lostman Go to America featuring footage of their 2006 American tour in support for the album My Foot.

It includes two DVDs: Pied Piper Go to Yesterday and Blue Song With Blue Poppies, two best-of compilation albums, Rock Stock & Too Smoking the Pillows and Once Upon a Time in the Pillows, a single "Ameagari ni mita Maboroshi" (featured on their 16th studio album OOPArts (Out of Place Artifacts)) and later the DVD of their anniversary concert, Lostman Go to Budokan, released in the following year.

In 2010, The Pillows recorded Rodeo Star Mate, their 30th single and opening theme song for the series, Stitch – Itazura Alien no Daibouken.

In June of the same year, The Pillows recorded "Comic Sonic" as the ending theme for the anime adaptation of the manga "Sket Dance".

On 18 January 2012 The Pillows released their album, Trial and, on the same day, a live DVD entitled We Are Friends, which included footage of their 2011 NAP Tour in America with Noodles.

On 4 October 2014 the band concluded the "Never Ending Story" campaign with the "Don't Forget Today" show at Tokyo Dome City Hall and, on the same date, released Bootleg the Pillows 1992–1993, a compilation featuring various previously unreleased recordings.

Entitled Stroll and Roll, the album includes a new version of "Radio Telegraphy"—originally recorded as a collaboration with Ryosuke Sasaki of A Flood of Circle[12]—and "One Flew Under the Cuckoo's Nest", a live venue/mail order exclusive single.

The album was released on 6 April, and features bass tracks performed by Kenji Ueda, Tatsuya Kashima, Yoshinori Arie, Tomoyuki Miyakawa, and Yamanaka's bandmate in The Predators, Jiro (of Glay).

On March 2017 a limited single entiled "The World There Is Nowhere" was released as live venue/mail order only exclusive and later appeared in the soundrack of the movie 王様になれ (Be Your King).

Following the release of the second season, FLCL Progressive, Adult Swim sponsored and presented a seven city tour across the US alongside a band on the same label called Noodles, as well as Cullen Omori formerly of the Smith Westerns.

In March 2019, The Pillows announced their participation on the tribute album for UNISON SQUARE GARDEN's 15th anniversary as a band, covering the song "Shoegazer Speaker".

To celebrate the band's 30th anniversary, a feature film entitled 王様になれ ("Be the King") with music and original story by Sawao Yamanaka was released in Japan in the Fall season of 2019.

The film stars actor Amane Okayama as Yuusuke, a young man who works in a ramen shop frequented by numerous Japanese rock bands.

Ousama ni Nare also features appearances by numerous musicians, including: Teru and Jiro of Glay; Atsushi Horie, Hidekazu Hinata and Shinpei Nakayama of Straightener; Hirotaka Takahashi of The Predators; Ryosuke Sasaki, Tomoya Tabuchi, Hiroaki Arai and Hiroyuki Suzuki of THE KEBABS; Yoko and Shinya Kusube of Casablanca; Hirata Panda, Beat Ryo, Hoshikawa Don't Let Me Down, Honma Domino and Chiba O'Reilly of THE BOHEMIANS; Eiichi Miyamoto of syurispeiloff; Ena Fujita, Asako Miyazaki, Aya Matsuoka and Misaki Yoshikawa of SHISHAMO.

[20] Buster-kun has been The Pillows' mascot since about 1998, when on a visit to London, the band saw a doll of a "grotesque and creepy-looking teddy bear" in a shop window.