An English rock band, led by Rod Argent (piano, organ, vocals) and Colin Blunstone (vocals), with Paul Atkinson (guitar, vocals), Hugh Grundy (drums) and Chris White (bass, vocals), formed in St Albans in the early 1960s while the members were still at school.

After winning a beat-group competition sponsored by the London Evening News, the Zombies signed to Decca and recorded their first hit, She's Not There (Argent's second song, written specifically for this session), which was released in mid-1964 and peaked at number 12 in the UK, where it would be their only Top 40 hit. This minor-key, jazz-tinged number, distinguished by its musicianship and Blunstone's breathy vocal, was unlike anything previously heard in British rock and later became a classic both in the UK and the US.

In early 1965, Tell Her No became another big seller in the US, but failed to make the Top 40 in the UK.

Although subsequent singles were of uniformly high quality, none achieved the success of the previous two singles.

In 1967, the Zombies signed to CBS Records for one final album, only the second of their career and the first one produced as a single unit. Their previous album, Begin Here (1965), was a collection of early singles, half a dozen original songs combined with several R&B covers. The resulting album, Odessey and Oracle (the band discovered too late that the album title had been misspelled by the cover designers and were reportedly deeply embarrassed), was one of the very first to utilise a Mellotron keyboard, as the band's budget did not allow for the hiring of session musicians.

By the time Odessey and Oracle was released in April 1968, the band had broken up. The album sold little and was only released in the US because musician Al Kooper vouched for it. One track, Time of the Season, was released as a single and eventually became a huge US nationwide hit in 1969 after a radio DJ discovered it and put it on heavy rotation.

Since the group declined to perform, various concocted groups tried to capitalise on the success and falsely toured under the band's name.

After The Zombies, Rod Argent formed a band called Argent, while Blunstone eventually launched a solo career.

In 2003, Blunstone and Argent reunited to record and tour, and released an album in 2004 credited to the Zombies (As Far as I Can See...), which received generally poor reviews. A 120-track compilation of the original band's work, Zombie Heaven, was much better regarded.

In 2006, Argent and Blunstone carried on touring. This was not a Zombies reunion and was credited to Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone of The Zombies.