Initially he was a guitarist with Buster Meikle & The DayBreakers which, incidentally also included his older brother on keyboards, together with Bob Henrit on drums. After a stint with The Roulettes backing Adam Faith, he then went on to join Unit 4 + 2 in the early 1960s, before becoming the lead singer and guitarist of Argent, writing their hit "God Gave Rock and Roll to You", which would later be covered by Petra and KISS.

In 1972 he performed on Colin Blunstone's Ennismore album, which was produced by Rod Argent. Ballard wrote the hit single "I Don't Believe in Miracles", which featured on that album.

He left Argent in 1973 and pursued a solo and songwriting career. He wrote such hits as Three Dog Night's "Liar", Hot Chocolate's UK chart topper "So You Win Again", and Rainbow's "Since You've Been Gone" and "I Surrender". As a solo artist he charted once on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, when "On the Rebound" went to number 58 in 1980.

The British pop band Hello recorded Ballard's "New York Groove" in 1975, reaching #7 in Germany, #9 in the UK.

Ballard wrote and produced "You Can Do Magic" for the band America. The single climbed to #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1982 and helped resurrect the band's career. The following year, America brought in Ballard to produce their follow-up album, Your Move. "The Border", which was co-written by Ballard with Dewey Bunnell, reached #33 on the charts.

The song "Voices" from the album Russ Ballard was featured on the Miami Vice episode entitled "Calderone's Return Part 2", airing on October 26, 1984. The song was a brief hit on rock radio stations, peaking at #15 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. However, the single stalled below the Billboard Hot 100, hitting #110.

Ballard has also written and produced for Elkie Brooks, and more recently acting as a talent scout, he "discovered", Lauren Harris.