Mudvayne formed in 1996 in Peoria, Illinois and released their first EP, "Kill, I Oughtta", in 1997. The EP received local attention, but it would be another three years until they would hit it big. At this time, bassist Shawn Barclay left the band, and was replaced by Ryan Martinie.

The band first rose to fame in 2000 with their first single "Dig" from their debut album L.D. 50. For this song, the band won their first ever MTV2 Award at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2001. The popularity of the song paved the way for the highly successful album and was followed by singles "Death Blooms" and "Nothing To Gein". In 2001, they released an extended version of the Kill, I Oughtta EP as The Beginning of All Things to End and continued their frequent touring.

Mudvayne are famous for wearing extravagant make-up, seen in both their music videos and live concerts, and utilizing bizarre stage names such as Kud, Gurrg, RyKnow, and sPaG. With their sophomore effort, 2002's The End of All Things to Come, the band changed make-up styles from multicolored face paint to dressing up as aliens. Mudvayne's reason for wearing such extravagant make-up was, according to the band, to add a visual aspect to their music and to set them apart from other run-of-the-mill metal bands. Mudvayne participated in the Summer Sanitarium Tour 2003, and with the release of the 2003 single "World So Cold", Mudvayne abandoned their use of make-up entirely. In 2005, their third album Lost and Found was released with the band members' real names and without any gimmicks.

However, the band has said that future use of make-up is not out of the question. In summer 2005, Mudvayne played on the main stage of Ozzfest. During this tour, Chad Gray wore a monkey suit without the head, had a fake, blood-spattered face complete with a fauxhawk, and carried a baseball bat around on stage with him while singing. The other members of the band were also dressed in an unorthodox fashion.

Mudvayne's 2005 singles have helped to increase their popularity further. "Determined" was included on the Need for Speed: Underground 2 soundtrack. "Happy?" was featured as the theme music of the WWE Vengeance pay-per-view for World Wrestling Entertainment in June 2005, and the band was featured in an episode of The Sopranos. Their single "Forget to Remember" was featured in the film Saw II. This was the second Mudvayne song to be featured in a movie, after "Not Falling", the band's first single off The End of All Things to Come, in the 2002 film Ghost Ship. Mudvayne have also contributed to the Masters Of Horror series soundtrack with a song called "Small Silhouette".

According to their MySpace, Mudvayne have begun writing a new album to be tentatively released in mid to late 2007. Greg Tribbett and Chad Gray have also collaborated with drummer Vinnie Paul, formerly of Pantera, and bassist Jerry Montano and guitarist Tom Maxwell of Nothingface in a new band called HELLYEAH.