According to California-based sister trio HAIM, the origin story of their band starts with their parents’ shared love of music. As a teenager in the 1970s, their mother won an episode of The Gong Show, singing a rendition of a Bonnie Raitt song, while their father spent time as a drummer.

“It might have been why they fell in love,” says Alana Haim, guitarist and, at 19, the youngest of the three. “They met at some disco in the eighties. I guess back then it was kind of hard to find a cute girl who could also play guitar.” As a result, the siblings were raised on a strict diet of classic rock, like the Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac, and old-school Americana. When they reached middle school, Mama and Papa Haim (as the girls affectionately refer to their parents) formed a folksy family band called Rockinhaim that toured around local fairs and charity events. 

“We used to do covers of rock songs by musicians like Billy Joel and Santana,” middle sister, guitarist, and lead vocalist Danielle Haim, 22, explains. “Dad played drums, Mom played guitar, Este played bass, and Alana played everything else.” Unfortunately, teenage rebellion comes in many forms (even in the laid-back Haim household) and, growing up in Los Angeles in the late nineties, the sisters were much more interested in what was playing on local pop radio stations like KIIS FM. “I think we were pushing out against our parents a bit,” saysEste, 24. “Every Sunday they’d put on ‘Breakfast with the Beatles,’ but we’d always want to switch it over to something like TLC, En Vogue, or Brandy and Monica.”  

Eventually the trio decided to break out on their own, and, four years ago, began experimenting with the stripped-back nu-folk–meets–nineties-R&B-pop sound found on their enchanting, recently released debut EP, Forever (currently available as a free download on their website).

“I think we still have the structure of old-school rock,” adds Alana. “But the R&B adds the spice.”

One imagines Mama and Papa must feel left out now that their daughters have, musically at least, flown the coop.

“No, they were happy for us,” Danielle says. “And they still love playing with us.”

“Yeah,” jokes Alana. “When we let them.”

2005–10: Career beginnings and formation

The three sisters grew up in the San Fernando Valley, listening to the 1970s classic rock and Americana records of their parents. While they were still at school their parents formed a family band called Rockinhaim to play cover versions at local charity fairs, with Israeli-born father Mordechai ("Moti") on drums and mother Donna on guitar. Danielle and Este were members of the Valli Girls, an all-girl group "inspired by Pat Benatar, Blondie, Gwen Stefani, The Pretenders, and Queen" from Southern California that was signed to Columbia Records / Sony Records and had a notable appearance on 2005 tween film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' soundtrack. Their song "Valli Nation" by the "SoCal teen prodigies" appears on the 2005Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards soundtrack "alongside such pop superstars as Avril Lavigne, Alicia Keys, Simple Plan, (and) Good Charlotte."

 As they grew older, the sisters became more interested in incorporating pop and contemporary R&B into their music. In 2006 they decided to form their own band. For the next 5 years Haim played local venues, but did not take things further as all three sisters were busy with other projects. Este was studying at UCLA and graduated in 2010 with a degree in Ethnomusicology, completed in just two years instead of the normal five. Upon graduating from high school Danielle was asked to play drums for the opening act on one of Jenny Lewis's tours, which led to Lewis asking Danielle to be her guitarist on the following tour. The Strokes' singer Julian Casablancas came to see one of Lewis's shows on that tour, and he in turn asked Danielle to play guitar and percussion on his own solo tour. She has also toured as part of Scarlet Fever, the all-female backing band forCee-Lo Green. It was after Danielle had played with other artists and Este had graduated that the sisters decided that they wanted pursue their career as HAIM more seriously. Youngest sister Alana spent one year in college before dropping out to join the band with her sisters.

All three sisters are proficient on more than one instrument: Este plays both guitar and bass, Danielle plays guitar and drums, and Alana plays guitar, keyboards and percussion. On record and live Este plays bass, Danielle plays lead guitar and sings lead vocals, and Alana plays rhythm guitar along with keyboards and percussion. At gigs Este has developed a reputation for her blunt and coarse banter with the crowd, as well as for producing amusing facial expressions, a "bass face" whilst playing, often to her sisters' embarrassment.

2012–present: Breakthrough, record deal and Days Are Gone

Having played shows supporting artists such as Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, The Henry Clay People and Kesha, Haim's first release was a three song EP titled Forever which was made available on February 10, 2012 as a free download on their website for a brief period. The EP received a lot of attention from the music press and the general public, and following a successful gig at the South by South West festival in March 2012 Haim signed a deal with Polydor Records in the UK in June 2012. In July 2012, independent record label National Anthem released the Forever EP on 10" vinyl, containing the original three songs along with a fourth track, a remix of "Forever" by Dan Lissvik. Following dates supporting Mumford & Sons on their "Gentlemen of the Road" tour in the US in August 2012 Haim made their debut tour of the UK in November 2012 and then supported Florence and the Machine on their UK and Ireland tour in December 2012. On October 16, 2012 Zane Lowe of BBC Radio 1 debuted their follow-up single "Don't Save Me" on his radio show. The single's B-side was "Send Me Down", differing from their previous releases in having a notably more hip hop musical style, with glossy vocal harmonies on top. Their debut album Days Are Gone was released on September 27, 2013.

The British music magazine NME made the title track of the Forever EP its #4 track of 2012. On January 4, 2013 the BBC announced that Haim had topped their annual Sound of 2013 music industry poll to find the most promising new musical acts for the coming year. They are now managed by ROC NATION. In March 2013, Haim was named one of Fuse TV's 30 must-see artists at SXSW and earned their own "At Your Request" video feature on Idolator. There is also a Duke Dumont remix of their song "Falling". In early 2013, they were featured on American recording artist Kid Cudi's third studio album Indicud, on the song titled "Red Eye". Danielle Haim appeared in the first track, "You're No Good", from Major Lazer's second album, "Free the Universe", alongside Santigold, Vybz Kartel and Yasmin.

At the 2013 Glastonbury Festival, in addition to their own set, they appeared with Primal Scream performing background vocals on "It's Alright, It's OK", "Rocks" and "Come Together".

In June 2013 they finished their album Days Are Gone, which was released on 30 September 2013. The band released "The Wire" as a single on July 29 and on September 29 they performed on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show in the presence of British Prime Minister David Cameron.

In October 2013, NBC announced that Haim would perform as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live November 23, with host Josh Hutcherson. The group performed "The Wire" and "Don't Save Me".