In the 90s, brothers Alan and Neal Evans had been the rhythm section for the Northeastern jam band Moon Boot Lover with front man Peter Prince. After a brief foray into rap with Edreys aka Billy Drease Williams under the name The Elements, the brothers looked to form a traditional jazz organ trio. On March 2, 1999, Alan and Neal invited guitarist Eric Krasno to record some tracks with them in their home studio in Woodstock, New York. That jam session became their first EP, Get Down! and the band shortly thereafter hit the road to begin touring. It was during that first summer together that the band recorded their first LP, Turn It Out, for Velour Recordings. Turn It Out featured various guest musicians, including John Scofield, Oteil Burbridge, and Sam Kininger. The independently produced album went on to sell 65,000 copies, enabling Soulive to gain recognition in the jazz/funk scene.

In the next three years, Soulive embarked on five national tours. The band opened for The Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews Band, The Roots, Common, John Mayer, and others. The band also continued to play at various festivals, including the Monterey Jazz Festival and Bonnaroo. Overseas, Soulive played shows in Japan and all over Europe.

In the fall of 2000, Soulive signed a record deal with Blue Note Records. The following spring, Soulive released its first Blue Note album, Doin' Something, which featured horn arrangements by Fred Wesley, the trombonist from James Brown's band. The band's second Blue Note record, Next, featured guest vocalists Dave Matthews and Amel Larrieux, and rappers Talib Kweli and Black Thought. During this time, the band also recorded with singer-songwriter Goapele Mohlabane.

In 2003, Soulive released a self-titled live album, Soulive (Live), and a collection of remixes, Turn It Out Remixed, which featured guests Jurassic 5, DJ Spinna, DJ Krush, J-Live, Wordsworth, and the Beatnuts.

In the Summer of 2005, Soulive left Blue Note Records and signed a new contract with the jazz label Concord Records.

On September 13, 2005, Soulive released its first album with Concord Records, Break Out. On this release the band eschewed extended jams for beat-driven instrumentals and collaborations with Chaka Khan (featured on "Back Again"), Ivan Neville (featured on "Got Soul" and "Take It Easy"), Corey Glover (featured on "Freedom"), Robert Randolph (featured on the Jimi Hendrix cover "Crosstown Traffic" and also on "Interlude II"), and Reggie Watts (featured on "She's Hooked" and "What Can You Do?"). Late in 2006 the group recorded No Place Like Soul with producer Stewart Lerman at his studio in Greenwich Village, The Shinebox.

In the summer of 2007, Boston based reggae/soul artist Toussaint was invited by the band to permanently fill the position of lead vocalist. However, after the tour, the band decided to become a trio yet again. In a post to the Soulive messageboard, Alan Evans explained: "we just want to have fun. no more chasing the pop thing or whatever that is. We just want to go out and rage, no setlists, no huge venues, no tour buses. Just have fun. This is not to say we didn't have fun with tours, we did but we realized that in looking at our past... We have had the most success and most fun when it was just the trio." (http://soulive.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3138)

In 2008, Soulive performed at the Newport Jazz Festival.

On March 12, 2009, Soulive announced that they would be releasing a new album, "Up Here," on April 14, 2009. The album marks somewhat of a return to form for the group, as many of the songs will solely be instrumentals. With their latest studio and live ventures, they are joined once again by Ryan Zoidis on Tenor Sax, Sam Kininger on Alto Sax - who are now under the alias "The Shady Horns" - as well as appearances by Rashawn Ross on Trumpet. Nigel Hall will also be guesting on the track "Too Much".

On July 28, 2009, played the pre-game festivities for the 2009 MLS All-Star Game game at The Canyons in Park City, Utah.

Starting in 2010, Soulive has held an annual two-week, ten-night residency at the Brooklyn Bowl. The shows run from Tuesday to Saturday, and each night involves a different opening act and a myriad of both announced and unannounced guest musicians. Rarely has Soulive played as a trio during these shows—a horn section, called "The Shady Horns," has almost always joined them on stage. The players have changed slightly over the years, but the section usually includes Ryan Zoidis on tenor and baritone saxophones and Sam Kinninger on alto saxophone.

The guest musicians have included: