Led by Mike Scott, the Waterboys formed in London in 1981. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Scott first became involved in music as the creator of the fanzine Jungleland and later played in a series of local punk bands. After studying English and philosophy in college, Scott moved with his band, Another Pretty Face, to London where, following the group’s breakup, he formed the Waterboys with multi-instrumentalist Anthony Thistlethwaite and Kevin Wilkinson, issuing their self-titled debut in 1983. Keyboardist Karl Wallinger and trumpeter Roddy Lorimer joined for their follow-up, A Pagan Place (1984).

After the release of their 3rd album, This Is the Sea, in 1985, Wallinger departed from the group. When the Waterboys returned in 1988 with the acclaimed Fisherman’s Blues, they were joined by fiddler Steve Wickham, keyboardist Guy Chambers, drummer Dave Ruffy and bassist Marco Weissman, a lineup that would take them to their next release, Room to Roam in 1990.

In 1991, Scott moved to New York without any of his bandmembers- reflected in 1993’s Dream Harder, a rock-oriented record that seemed to mark the end of the Waterboys’ career.

Then, seemingly out of the blue to the public, drummer Kevin Wilkinson committed suicide on July 17, 1999, after having been a member of the Waterboys since their 1983 self-titled effort.

About a year later, Mike Scott reformed the Waterboys in 2000. A Rock in the Weary Land was the band’s first release in seven years, featuring Thistlethwaite and Wickham‘s returns to the group. Fisherman’s Blues, Pt. 2, an album featuring previously unavailable material from Fisherman’s Blues! was released in the summer of 2002. The next album, 2003’s Universal Hall appeared rather quickly, followed by Book of Lightning in 2007 after a short hiatus.

After a few of years of touring and time off, Scott assembled and released a collection of unreleased songs from The Waterboys' ‘This Is the Sea’ sessions entitled In a Special Place in 2011, and also published a book, Adventures of a Waterboy.