Peter Svensson and Magnus Sveningsson, both heavy metal musicians, formed the group on October 31 1992 in Jönköping, Sweden, with drummer Bengt Lagerberg, keyboardist Lars-Olof Johansson and lead singer Nina Persson. Living together in a small apartment, The Cardigans recorded a demo tape which record producer Tore Johansson heard, leading to an invitation to record at a studio in Malmö.

In 1994 they released their debut album Emmerdale in Sweden and Japan (it was re-released internationally in 1997). The album includes the Swedish radio hit "Rise & Shine" and was later voted the best of 1994 in a poll in Slitz magazine.

The rest of 1994 was spent touring Europe and recording Life, which was released worldwide in 1995. Life became an international success, selling more than a million copies and achieving platinum status in Japan.

In 1996 Life was released under the label Minty Fresh in the U.S., but this release was essentially a compilation of tracks from Emmerdale and Life. Life was perhaps a satirical riposte to the first album, and saw the band move in a more avant-garde direction in terms of arrangements and artwork.

After their success with Life, The Cardigans signed to Mercury Records, under which they released First Band on the Moon worldwide in 1996. With this album, the band had developed into a more complex, darker animal, the songs included themes of heartbreak, infidelity and despair.

"Lovefool" was a hit across the globe, especially in the United States and again in Japan, where the album reached platinum in only three weeks. However, it was unrepresentative of the album as a whole and, although it helped it achieve gold sales status in America, many critics branded them saccharine soft-pop on the basis of "Lovefool".

The song was shown on MTV in the late 90s as a music video with clips from the 1996 hit film Romeo + Juliet starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.

In 1997, the band played themselves on the graduation episode of Beverly Hills 90210.

1998's Gran Turismo was darker and more moody, and was followed by a long hiatus during which the band members pursued solo side projects. The same year they also released a compilation of rare B-sides called The Other Side of the Moon as a Japan-only release which makes this album somewhat rare outside Japan.

The video of the song "My Favourite Game" was censored by MTV for showing reckless driving. "My Favourite Game" was also featured on the soundtrack of the Playstation video game Gran Turismo 2 for the opening sequence of races. That year also saw their song "Deuce" appearing on The X-Files: The Album.