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Muse are an English rock band formed in Teignmouth, Devon in 1994 under the alias of Rocket Baby Dolls. Afterwards, they changed their name to Muse, decided to forgo university and undertook a career in music. The band comprises Matthew Bellamy (vocals, guitar and keyboards), Christopher Wolstenholme (bass guitar) and Dominic Howard (drums and percussion). Muse blend alternative, hard rock, progressive rock, classical music and electronica to help form the new sub-genre of new prog. Muse are known best for their energetic and visually dazzling live performances, and front man Matthew Bellamy's eccentric interests in global conspiracy, extraterrestrial life, paranoia, theology and the apocalypse. Muse have released four studio albums with their first, Showbiz, coming in 1999. The most recent, Black Holes & Revelations (2006), was also the most critically acclaimed, garnering the band a Mercury Prize nomination and a third place finish in the NME Albums of the Year list for 2006.

In July 2006, Muse released their fourth album, again produced by Rich Costey, titled Black Holes & Revelations. The album was released officially in Japan on June 28, 2006, Europe on July 3, 2006 and in North America on July 11, 2006. The album charted at No. 1 in the UK, much of Europe, and Australia and also achieved American success, reaching No. 9 in the Billboard 200 album chart. Black Holes & Revelations was nominated for the 2006 Mercury Music Prize, but lost to Arctic Monkeys. The album did, however, earn a Platinum Europe Award after selling one million copies in the continent, The album's title and themes are the result of the band's fascination with science fiction and political outrage. In August 2006, Muse recorded a live session at Abbey Road Studios for Live from Abbey Road.

The first single from the album, "Supermassive Black Hole", was released as a download on May 9, 2006 and accompanied by a music video directed by Floria Sigismondi, followed by the general releases as a single the following month, all ahead of the main album release. The second single, "Starlight", was released on September 4, 2006. "Knights of Cydonia" was released in the U.S. as a radio-only single on June 13, 2006 and in the UK on November 27, 2006. It also had a six-minute promotional video filmed in Romania. The fourth single from the album, "Invincible", was released on April 9, 2007, Another single, "Map of the Problematique", was released for digital download only on June 18, 2007, following the band's performance at Wembley Stadium.

Prior to the release of the album, the band resumed making live performances, which had halted while recording, making a number of promotional TV appearances starting on May 13, 2006 at BBC Radio 1's One Big Weekend. The main live tour started just before the release of their album and initially consisted mostly of festival appearances, most notably a headline slot at the Reading and Leeds Festivals in August 2006. The band's main touring itinerary started with a tour of North America from late July to early August 2006, and after the last of the summer festivals, a tour of Europe began, including a large arena tour of the UK. The band spent November and much of December 2006 touring Europe with British band Noisettes as the supporting act. The tour continued in Australia, New Zealand and south-east Asia in early 2007 before returning to England for the summer. One of their biggest performances were two gigs at the newly-rebuilt Wembley Stadium on June 16 and 17. Both Wembley concerts were recorded for a DVD/CD release titled H.A.A.R.P, which was released on the 17th March 2008 in the UK and 1st April 2008 in the USA. The title refers to the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program - a scientific research program aimed at studying the properties and behaviour of the ionosphere.

The touring continued across Europe in July 2007 before heading back to the US in August. They earned a headline spot on the second night of the Austin City Limits Music Festival on September 15, 2007, after The White Stripes cancelled their performance. They also performed at the October 2007 Vegoose in Las Vegas alongside bands like Rage Against the Machine, Daft Punk, and Queens of the Stone Age. Muse played their final show of the Black Holes & Revelations tour as headliner of the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas after playing to sell-out crowds throughout South-East Asia, Australia, the United States and New Zealand.