The band members originally met at school as teenagers in Manchester and began to write music in 2002. Two band members are not originally from Manchester; Healy was born in London and Daniel was born in Brussels. Hann invited the members to form a band and they passed their early days covering punk songs. Originally, Healy was the drummer but began to sing after the previous singer left to start another band, at this point Daniel was invited to join the band as the new drummer and the current line up was formed.

Though not originally called "The 1975", Healy chose the current name after seeing the date "1 June. The 1975" scribbled into the back page of a book of Beat Poetry he had been given by an artist who was giving away his possessions outside a run down farmhouse on the island of Ibiza. The scribblings made up a suicide note from a previous owner, depicting his fall into insanity and his desire to take his own life. The writings and the use of the word "the" in front of a year, "1975" really impacted on Healy and the bands name was born.

The current name first appeared in January 2012 as the band prepared to release their first EP "Facedown" following signing to UK based Indie label Dirty Hit. The "Facedown" EP's lead track "The City" was the first track by The 1975 to be played on UK radio as part of Huw Stephens BBC Radio 1 BBC Introducing show as part of a feature called "Label Of Love" where an Indie label is invited onto the show by Huw to talk about the artists they are working with. The labels owner Jamie Oborne played "The City" as the new artist he was most excited about. From there the track "The City" went on to get support across BBC Radio 1's specialist output and the band started to feature on assorted blogs and new music sites. Previously, they have played shows as The Slowdown, Bigsleep (stylized as B I G S L E E P), and Drive Like I Do.

In 2012, they embarked on a tour of the UK and Ireland extending through 2013. The 1975 grew in popularity in late 2012, after BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe played their single Sex.[8] Mike Crossey, who has produced albums by the Arctic Monkeys and Foals will co-produce their first full-length album. Along with their debut album, they plan to release a third EP in 2013. The band will be released in the US by Vagrant Records, who signed The 1975 in October 2012.

The lyrical content of their music directly relates to Matthew's life, loves and losses. He writes about the band's experiences and what it's been like growing up together. Their debut album promises to be the soundtrack to the past five years as a band and they just want as many people to hear it as possible. For them "it is those human connections we're craving right now."