A Perfect Circle formed in 1999 with principal members Billy Howerdel (Ashes Divide) and Maynard James Keenan (Tool, Puscifer) creating a fluid band where line-ups were free to shift with each ensuing album. The band's current line-up is Howerdel, Keenan, James Iha (The Smashing Pumpkins), Jeff Friedl (Devo/The Beta Machine), Matt McJunkins (Eagles of Death Metal/The Beta Machine), and Greg Edwards (Failure, Autolux).

In 2005, following a whirlwind period of multi-platinum album sales and sold out worldwide touring, the band took a self-imposed hiatus, which lasted until the fall of 2010. A Perfect Circle shook the dust off by announcing a series of multi-night, full album performances and a performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. The band followed with a sold-out North American tour, festival outings at Lollapalooza (U.S./South America) and the Australian Soundwave Festival (2013). That same year, they released the retrospective Three Sixty and their first live release A Perfect Circle Live: Featuring Stone and Echo. In late 2016, the band announced a new round of U.S. tour dates and word came that Howerdel and Keenan were writing music for a new album.

In April 2018, A Perfect Circle released Eat The Elephant, their first studio album in fourteen years.

A Perfect Circle has released four studio albums: Mer de Noms (2000), Thirteenth Step (2003), eMOTIVe (2004), and Eat The Elephant (2018)