Said to have originated in Liverpool, Louisiana, The Residents emerged as a bizarre and anonymous band in 1972. After moving to San Francisco, their first official release was "Santa Dog", a song that sounded like something that would have come from the "Nuggets" era, but tainted in an odd way. Through the 70's, The Residents brought not only a warped sound to their differing albums, but a warped perspective on important themes like love, meaning, perversion, and music itself. The Third Reich and Role (An album consisting entirely of bubble-gum rock songs of the 60's practically turned upside down), Duck Stab (A largely influencial album that the band Primus happens to draw three covers from) and Eskimo (A concept album featuring the songs and struggles of Eskimos. The album was also the debut of their iconic eyeball heads) are notable here.

 The band continued through the 80's, where they experienced a shift from more traditional instruments to the computerized sound of synthesizers. Notable albums here are The Commercial Album (Composed of 40 one-minute songs), Mark of the Mole (A story album about Moles and all that stuff), and Stars and Hank Forever (One half is Hank Williams, the other John Phillip Sousa. Go figure.) The band began touring in this era, and have since then performed several tours, including The Mole Show Live, Cube-E: The History of American Music in 3 EZ Pieces, and the 40 Anniversary Wonder of Weird Tour. They have come to be known for their elaborate stage set-ups and use of other media onstage.

  Continuing into the 90's, the band's sound was largely computerized and the band explored story albums such as Freak Show (Stories about various freaks), The Gingerbread Man (Stories about various disturbed people), Wormwood (Stories from the Bible) and Bad Day on the Midway (Which was actually a video game.) 

  From the 2000's and on, the band continued with stories in narrative albums as well as remixing much of their music in both album form and performance. Mentionables include Demons Dance Alone (Written shortly following the events of 9/11), The Bunny Boy (Which was also an interactive web series), and Lonely Teenager (When the band decided to come out as "Randy, Chuck, and Bob".) For over 40 years now, The Residents have remained just as bizarre and anonymous as when they begun, and are constantly working on side projects alongside major albums.