[3] Mayday evolved from So Band which was formed by Ashin, Monster and the first drummer Chien You-ta (錢佑達) in 1995 while they were studying in The Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University (師大附中).

[2] Mayday was greatly influenced by The Beatles, believing that rock had the power to change the world, and spread ideals of love and peace through their songs.

Their demo impressed Rock Records executive Jonathan Lee (李宗盛)[5] who described them as "the ones who would usher in the sound of the future".

In the same year, they also took part in the release of the Taiwan Independent Compilation Album (ㄞ國歌曲) by indie music label TCM (角頭音樂) which included their first studio recording Motor Rock (軋車).

[citation needed] In June 1998, they also released Embrace (擁抱) compilation album for which they took on most of the songwriting, production and recording duties.

As members Ashin, Monster and Masa would be enlisting in the army soon after, Stone would be going to England to learn studio techniques, and Guan-You would be heading to Los Angeles to hone his drumming skills, this was a farewell tour for the band.

[citation needed] During their hiatus, Mayday released the autobiographical documentary titled The Wings of Dream (搖滾本事) as well as an accompanying movie soundtrack.

[12] On 16 August 2003, Mayday held their Castle in the Sky concert at the Taipei Municipal Stadium, attracting over 40,000 fans.

On 5 November 2004, Mayday released their fifth studio album God’s Children are all Dancing (神的孩子都在跳舞), and were nominated for Best Band at the 16th Golden Melody Awards in 2005.

The band embarked on their first-ever world tour Final Home from 25 December 2004 to 1 May 2005, holding a total of 14 concerts in Taiwan, USA, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and Hong Kong.

On 29 December 2006, they released their sixth studio album Born to Love (為愛而生), and held 12 concerts in the first quarter of 2007.

As part of their NOW-HERE world tour, they performed at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena on 2 February and held 8 consecutive concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum in May.

On 21 February 2014, they held the first concert of their European tour at the Wembley Arena in London, attracting more than 10,000 fans from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Europe.

[19] As part of their NOW-HERE North American Tour, the band held 7 concerts in Canada and the US from 17 to 29 March, in cities such as Vancouver, Toronto, Chicago, Houston, San Jose, and Los Angeles.

On 1 January 2015, Mayday, together with artists from their record label B'in Music, held a New Year's concert at the intersection of Kaixuan and Ersheng Road – the site of the tragic 2014 Kaohsiung gas explosions.

World Tour to Nippon Budokan with 2 shows on 28 and 29 August 2015, making their mark as the first Mandarin-speaking band to hold a concert at the venue.

[citation needed] From 20 May to 1 June 2016, Mayday held 10 consecutive concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum as part of their Just Rock It!!!

On 17 July, Mayday returned to where they first performed after releasing their first album in 1999, Ximending in Taipei City, for a free live concert.

[22] On 29 March 2017, Mayday celebrated their 20th anniversary with a free outdoor concert in Taipei and a worldwide livestream of the show.

On 5 May 2018, they released a single named "I Will Carry You", a theme song for Android game, Honor of Kings.

Leg 6 of the tour brought Mayday to Oceania, where they performed three shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland in September 2018.

As a gesture of gratitude to COVID-19 frontline workers, the band’s company B’in Music gave out 6000 free tickets to medical staff in Taoyuan, Taichung and Tainan.

They are popular for their student band roots, and their ability to capture the zeitgeist of Taiwanese youth in the mid to late 1990s.

In albums later on, Ashin has alluded to several cultural icons, notably the Chinese mythical monkey-god Sun Wu-Kong, Mickey Mouse, Superman, Neil Armstrong and Che Guevara.

Ashin has also cited movies and novels as inspiration for his songs including "Viva Love" (愛情萬歲) which was inspired by avant-garde Taiwanese director Tsai Ming Liang's 1994 movie, Vive L'Amour[30] and the song "Armor" (武裝), which was influenced by a Chinese drama (孽子) and Haruki Murakami's novel Kafka on the Shore.

Notably, lead singer Ashin and others has written lyrics and composed songs for many singers, including Victor Wong, JJ Lin, Jolin Tsai, Fish Leong, Twins, Nicholas Tse, Jam Hsiao, S.H.E, Alan Tam, Leehom Wang, Rene Liu, Della Ding and many others.

In June 2019, Stone Shi Chin-hang replied to a Hong Kong netizen's comment related to the protests on his Facebook page, expressing unwavering support.

Additionally, Chinese authorities initiated a lip-sync investigation against Mayday, which is viewed as part of a broader campaign to influence Taiwanese voters, particularly the youth.