Breaking Benjamin was formed by vocalist Benjamin Burnley and Jeremy Hummel in 1998. The band got its name from an accident at an open-mic night at a club, in which Burnley dropped and broke a microphone. Their alternative metal sound comes from Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania, where they also got their first big break, through a former radio personality named Freddie "DJ Freddie" Fabbri who is now their tour manager. The original duo was joined by members Aaron Fink (guitar) and Mark James Klepaski (bass) who left the group Lifer to join Breaking Benjamin in 2001. With the addition of these two members, and the support of DJ Freddie, the band really started to take off.

That same year the band began to work with Hollywood Records who hooked them up with producer/engineer Ulrich Wild. In August of 2002 Hollywood released the group's debut album, Saturate. The album was released, promising great things as it scored at number two on Heatseekers and hit the Billboard 200. The band was off to a running start with two singles from the album "Polyamrous" and "Skin" both peaking well on Mainstream Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks.

The band released their second album We Are Not Alone two years later, in 2004, including several collaborations with Billy Corgan. This album did even better than the first, peaking at number 20 on the Billboard 200 and producing three chart-hitting singles. They also landed a prime spot on the Evanescence tour. Their third album Phobia was released in August 2006. The album continued to show the group's improvement, winning off of Benjamin Burnley's efforts as a songwriter. The album scored at number two on The Billboard 200 and Top Internet Albums. Fans are now waiting expectantly for the next release.