Papa Roach are an American heavy metal band from Vacaville, California. Their first major-label release was the triple-platinum debut album Infest (2000). The group's success continued with their gold album Lovehatetragedy (2002), their platinum album Getting Away with Murder (2004) and The Paramour Sessions (2006). Their latest album, Metamorphosis, was released on March 24, 2009. The band's new studio/live album, Time for Annihilation, will be released on August 31, 2010. Papa Roach has sold more than 10 million album copies worldwide, and are known for their hits "Last Resort", "Scars", "Forever", and "Lifeline", among others.

The formation of Papa Roach began in January 1993, when lead singer Jacoby Shaddix  and drummer Dave Buckner met on the Vacaville High School football field during an intense match, where the two ended up talking about music. They were later joined by trombonist Ben Luther and bass guitarist Will James. They decided to enter the school's talent show, where they performed a cover version of Jimi Hendrix's famous song, "Fire". They ultimately didn't win the contest. In March 1993, trombonist Ben Luther was replaced by lead guitarist Jerry Horton from nearby Vanden High School. Jerry was introduced to the band through his girlfriend, who was a fan. However, Jerry was at first apprehensive about joining the band because Jacoby, Dave, and Will all went to a different high school. At this point, Papa Roach were practicing everyday and touring on every gig they could get. Their first tour van was called Moby Dick. The band's name comes from Shaddix's step-grandfather, Howard William Roatch, who was nicknamed Papa Roach. Roatch committed suicide in 2006. The band pay homage to him with The Paramour Sessions and during live performances of the song "Roses On My Grave".

In 1994, Papa Roach released their first ever EP titled Potatoes for Christmas. Drummer Dave Buckner was temporarily replaced by Ryan Brown, as Buckner was spending the year in Seattle studying art. In 1995, they released a demo at Sound Farm Studios titled Caca Bonita. By this time Buckner was back. In 1996, they replaced original bass guitarist Will James, who had become heavily involved in a church summer camp, by Tobin Esperance, because James' absence would limit the band's summer practicing and touring. As Esperance had been with the band as a roadie for a while, the transition was an easy one.

In 1997, the band produced their first full-length album, entitled Old Friends from Young Years. Still touring heavily, they supported bands such as Incubus, Powerman 5000, Hed PE, Snot, Far and Static-X.

In 1998, they released an EP titled 5 Tracks Deep. It sold more than 1,000 copies in its first month of release. In 1999, they produced another EP, which would end up being their last independent release, titled Let 'Em Know. This was seen to be Papa Roach's best independent effort as a band, highlighting their distinctive sound. Its success caught the attention of Warner Music Group, who as part of a development deal provided a small amount of money for the production of a 5 track promo/demo CD. The band decided they wanted influential rock producer Jay Baumgardner on board to produce the record. In an interview with HitQuarters, Baumgardner said, “At first I wasn’t really convinced it would work out, but then I saw a video of them performing at a club - I saw all these kids going wild, knowing the songs by heart - and that’s when I realized that they definitely had potential.”

Warner Brothers were not convinced by the demo, however, and elected not to sign them. The unreleased disc included the songs "Infest", "Last Resort", "Broken Home", "Dead Cell", and "She Loves Me Not" - the first four would later feature on their Infest album, and the last on Lovehatetragedy.

Soon after, Rodriguez was contacted by DreamWorks Records offering the band a recording contract.

Papa Roach formed a friendship with Alien Ant Farm, a band from Southern California. The two bands shared their fans with each other, Papa Roach's being from North Cal while AAF's from South Cal.

In their early independent releases, the band tended to use funk rock, and on their first two major label albums, Infest and Lovehatetragedy, they used nu metal. However, since Getting Away with Murder, their music has morphed into rock. Additionally, with their 2009 album, Metamorphosis, as the name expresses, the band feels that their music is going through a transformation to "stuff that's...harder and faster", compared to the softer sound of their last few albums.

Frontman Jacoby Shaddix said the following in an interview with the Dallas Music Guide regarding the band no longer using rapping in their music: "...the rapping's gone! I don't feel like rapping. I'm just over that...I just want to be a rocker. It's what I wanted to be when I was a kid". Shaddix has added this remark in another interview: "We’re a band that tries to walk that line between metal, hardcore, punk rock and pop music, and we do our best at trying to make it all cool".