Beginnings and Wagonwheel Blues (2003–2008) In 2003, frontman
Adam Granduciel moved from
Oakland, California, to Philadelphia, where he met
Kurt Vile, who had also recently moved back to Philadelphia after living in
Boston for two years. The duo began writing, recording and performing music together. Vile remembered, "Adam was the first dude I met when I moved back to Philadelphia in 2003. We saw eye-to-eye on a lot of things. I was obsessed with
Bob Dylan at the time, and we totally geeked-out on that. We started playing together in the early days and he would be in my band, the Violators. Then, eventually I played in The War On Drugs." Granduciel and Vile began playing together as The War on Drugs in 2005. Regarding the band's name, Granduciel said, "My friend Julian and I came up with it a few years ago over a couple bottles of red wine and a few typewriters when we were living in Oakland. We were writing a lot back then, working on a dictionary, and it just came out and we were like 'hey, good band name' so eventually when I moved to Philadelphia and got a band together I used it. It was either that or The Rigatoni Danzas. I think we made the right choice. I always felt though that it was the kind of name I could record all sorts of different music under without any sort of predictability inherent in the name." While Vile and Granduciel formed the backbone of the band, they had a number of accompanists early in the group's career, before finally settling on a lineup adding Charlie Hall as a drummer and organist, Kyle Lloyd as a drummer, and Dave Hartley on bass. Granduciel had previously toured and recorded with the
Capitol Years, and Vile has several solo albums. The group gave away its
Barrel of Batteries EP for free early in 2008. Their debut LP for
Secretly Canadian,
Wagonwheel Blues, was released in 2008. After the album's release and then a European tour, Vile departed from the band to focus on his solo career, saying, "I only went on the first European tour when their album came out, and then I basically left the band. I knew if I stuck with that, it would be all my time and my goal was to have my own musical career."
Slave Ambient (2008–2012) The lineup had several changes and by the end of 2008, Kurt Vile, Charlie Hall, and Kyle Lloyd all had exited the group. At the time Granduciel and Hartley were joined by drummer Mike Zanghi, whom Granduciel played with in Kurt Vile's backing band, the Violators. After recording much of the band's forthcoming studio album,
Slave Ambient, Zanghi quit the band in 2010. Drummer Steven Urgo joined the band, with keyboardist Robbie Bennett being added at about the same time. Regarding Zanghi's exit, Granduciel said, "I loved Mike. But you have things like friendship, and he's down to tour and he's a great guy." In 2012, Patrick Berkery replaced Urgo as the band's drummer.
Lost in the Dream (2013–2015) festival in
Hilvarenbeek, The Netherlands, 2014 On December 4, 2013, the band announced the upcoming release of its third studio album,
Lost in the Dream (March 18, 2014). The band streamed the album in its entirety on
NPR's
First Listen site for a week before its release. Award-winning alt-country rocker
Ryan Adams said on
Twitter that
Lost in the Dream was a perfect album.
Lost in the Dream was featured as the Vinyl Me, Please record of the month in August 2014. The pressing was a limited edition pressing on mint green colored vinyl.
A Deeper Understanding (2015–2021) in April 2018 In June 2015, The War on Drugs signed with
Atlantic Records for a two-album deal. On Record Store Day, April 22, 2017, The War on Drugs released their new single "Thinking of a Place". The single was produced by frontman Granduciel and
Shawn Everett. April 28, 2017, The War on Drugs announced a fall 2017 tour in North America and Europe and that a new album was imminent. On June 1, 2017, a new song, "Holding On", was released, and it was announced that the album would be titled
A Deeper Understanding and was released on August 25, 2017. "Holding On" was also used on the official soundtrack of
EA Sports'
FIFA 18. The 2017 tour began in September, opening in the band's hometown, Philadelphia, and it concluded in November in Sweden.
A Deeper Understanding was nominated for the International Album of the Year award at the 2018
UK Americana Awards. At the
60th Annual Grammy Awards, on January 28, 2018,
A Deeper Understanding won the Grammy for
Best Rock Album. On October 6, 2020, The War on Drugs announced a live album titled
Live Drugs, which was released on November 20, 2020.
''I Don't Live Here Anymore'' (2021–present) The War on Drugs released their fifth studio album, ''
I Don't Live Here Anymore'', on October 29, 2021. Along with the announcement of the album, the band released a single and accompanying music video for the album's lead track, "Living Proof", with a 2022 tour announcement. The album was released to widespread critical acclaim, placing highly on several end-of-year lists. For the album's accompanying tour, keyboardist Eliza Hardy Jones, who has previously played with bass guitarist Dave Hartley in his solo project, Nightlands, joined the band. Throughout 2024, Granduciel produced the third studio album by the English singer–songwriter
Sam Fender,
People Watching (2025), and the sixth solo studio album by
The Hold Steady's
Craig Finn,
Always Been, concurrently.
Always Been featured Granduciel and The War on Drugs appearing as Finn's backing band throughout. Finn, former bandmate Kurt Vile, and
Joe Walsh would join The War on Drugs to perform for their regular fundraiser "Drugcember" concerts at the end of 2025. "Lucy" a previously unreleased track from the band, made it's live debut during Drugcember 2025. In an interview published in spring 2026, Granduciel had confirmed the band's expected sixth studio album was nearly finished recording. ==Musical style==