Funeral for a Friend (commonly abbreviated to FFAF) have roots that can be traced to the band January Thirst – when original vocalist Michael Davies (now of Makeshift Truth) quit in December 2002, Matthew Evans and Johnny Phillips invited Matt Davies to audition for the vacated vocal position, and shortly afterwards the band reformed as Funeral for a Friend (named after a song by Planes Mistaken For Stars, but, due to Matt being the only member who is a fan of PMFS, the band as a whole credit the Elton John song as the basis for their name). More line up changes were to follow when Kris Coombs-Roberts joined on guitar, Ryan Richards replaced Phillips on drums, original bassist Andi Morris quit to pursue a career as a music teacher (replaced by Gareth Davies), and second guitarist Kerry Roberts left to be replaced by Darran Smith (ex Tripcage). The new band recorded 4 tracks at Mighty Atom Studios to put towards a proposed self financed EP with another Welsh band, From This Moment On, however upon hearing the tracks, Mighty Atom Records approached the band and offered a 2 album deal, resulting in their debut EP, “Between Order & Model” (2002).

2003 saw the release of a second EP, “Four Ways to Scream Your Name”, produced and mixed by Colin Richardson, and also saw FFAF win the Kerrang! "Best UK Newcomer" award (beating The Darkness, who won in all other nominated categories). In October 2003, after recording for the duration of the summer, full length debut album “Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation”, also produced and mixed by Colin Richardson, was released. It spawned 3 Top 20 singles - "Juneau" and "Escape Artists Never Die" (both number 19), and "She Drove Me to Daytime Television" (number 20). However, the album was released in the US until July 2004 – instead, a 7 track mini album entitled “Seven Ways to Scream Your Name”, was released, featuring songs from the first 2 EPs, “Between Order & Model” and “Four Ways to Scream Your Name”.

Second album “Hours”, produced by Terry Date and recorded in 2 studios owned by Pearl Jam, was released on Atlantic Records in June 2005. August saw the band win the Kerrang! “Best British Band", and after touring, the band spent most of 2006 writing and recording a third album.

May 2007 saw the launch of “Tales Don't Tell Themselves”, but not before first single "Into Oblivion (Reunion)" reached number 39 in its first week of release on downloads and reached number 16 in the official UK chart. Second single “Walk Away” reached number 40 in the UK Singles chart, and the album climbed to number 3 on the UK Album chart. Later in 2007, the EP “The Great Wide Open” was released, also through Atlantic Records.

Fourth album, “Memory and Humanity”, supported by a UK tour, coincided with the departure of bassist Gareth Davies – in the band’s words, “As some of you may know, Gareth has been living in America for the past couple of years, and recently got married. Ultimately, the strain of travelling between continents has taken it's toll and Gareth made the decision that it would be in the best interests of himself, his family and Funeral to leave the band. We totally respect and understand his choice, wish him all the best in his future and we thank him for being part of our lives for the past 6 years". Davies is to be replaced by Gavin Burrough (Hondo Maclean, Ghostlines, The Future).