Kaiser Chiefs formed in 1997 in Leeds, and consist of vocalist Ricky Wilson, guitarist Andrew 'Whitey' White, bassist Simon Rix, keyboardist Nick 'Peanut' Baines, and drummer Nick Hodgson. At the age of 11, Rix, Baines and Hodgson were in the same class at St. Mary's School, Menston (just outside Leeds), and whilst Rix and Baines left for university in 1996, Hodgson remained in the Leeds area, meeting both White and Wilson. These 3 took on the strong loca music scene in Leeds by forming a band called Runston Parva (a deliberate misspelling of a small Yorkshire village called Ruston Parva), but after failing to land a record deal, the group reformed as Parva once Rix and Baines had returned from university. Parva were able to obtain both a record and publishing deal, but this was shortlived as after Beggars Banquets closed the Mantra label, Parva were dropped after the release of an album and 3 singles. Undeterred, the band started afresh with new songs and a new name: Kaiser Chiefs (taken from the South African football club Kaizer Chiefs, where former Leeds United captain Lucas Radebe once played).

Debut LP "Employment" was released in March 2005, reaching number 2 on the UK albums chart, certified 5 times platinum, selling over 3 million copies and getting shortlisted for the 2005 Mercury Music Prize. First single "Oh My God" (originally released in 2004) reached number 6 on the UK singles chart when it was reissued in February 2005 (in 2007, the song was covered by Mark Ronson and Lily Allen for Ronson's album “Version”). "I Predict a Riot" was the second single (a song that was ranked number 36 on the NME "Greatest Indie Anthems Ever" countdown in 2007), and was followed by the Top 20 singles "Everyday I Love You Less and Less" and "Modern Way" followed in late 2005.

Kaiser Chiefs' second album “Yours Truly, Angry Mob” was released in February 2007. Recorded at Hook End Studio in Oxfordshire, it reached number 1 on the UK albums chart and number 45 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Lead single "Ruby" gave the Chiefs their first UK number 1 single, but this proved to be the highlight as follow up "Everything Is Average Nowadays" made number 19, third single "The Angry Mob" peaked at number 22, and fourth single, "Love's Not a Competition (But I'm Winning)", released as a collector's edition 7" only single via their website, plimped to number 112.