Hope Sandoval

Sandoval took an interest in music at an early age, and, at age 13, was particularly influenced by the Rolling Stones. In 1986, she formed the folk music duo Going Home with Sylvia Gomez and sent a demo tape to David Roback. He contacted the duo and suggested that he would "play guitar for you guys". The material recorded by Gomez, Sandoval and Roback has yet to be released.

The first Mazzy Star album, She Hangs Brightly, was released in 1990. While not a commercial success, this album did establish Mazzy Star as a band with a unique sound. The band had a surprise breakthrough hit single released in October 1993. "Fade into You" – from its second album So Tonight That I Might See – was recorded one year before it became a success. There is a continuity between the sounds and moods established on Mazzy Star's first two albums and its third, Among My Swan. Mazzy Star went on hiatus in 1997.

Sandoval formed The Warm Inventions in 2000 and released her first solo album Bavarian Fruit Bread in 2001, which she recorded with My Bloody Valentine drummer Colm Ó Cíosóig. The album differed in terms of theme, voice, and instrumentation from that of her work with Mazzy Star. Bert Jansch plays guitar on two tracks, and the album features two covers, "Butterfly Mornings" from the film The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970) and Jesus and Mary Chain's "Drop". The Warm Inventions released two EPs, At the Doorway Again in 2000 and Suzanne in 2002 but did not win commercial success, with one video on MTV and little radio play. Sandoval recorded a song, "Wild Roses", for a compilation CD released by Air France, In the Air (2008).

Hope Sandoval and The Warm Inventions released their second album, Through the Devil Softly, on September 29, 2009.

In 2009, Sandoval confirmed in an interview with Rolling Stone that Mazzy Star was still active: "It's true we're still together. We're almost finished [with the record]. But I have no idea what that means." In October 2011, the group released the single "Common Burn"/"Lay Myself Down", their first material in 15 years. The group stated that they had plans to release the album in 2012. In July 2013, "California", the first single from the new album was released. The album, Seasons of Your Day, was released in September 2013.

Sandoval and her band were chosen by Matt Groening to perform at the edition of the All Tomorrow's Parties festival he curated in May 2010 in Minehead, England. The group also played the ATP New York 2010 music festival in Monticello, New York in September 2010 at the request of film director Jim Jarmusch.

On March 9, 2016, it was confirmed that Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions would release a 7" vinyl single titled "Isn't It True" for Record Store Day 2016. The track also features Jim Putnam of Radar Bros. A music video for the song was released on April 19, and is dedicated to Richie Lee of Acetone. The Warm Inventions' third studio album, Until the Hunter, was released on November 4 through the band's own independent record label, Tendril Tales. A second single from the album, "Let Me Get There" featuring Kurt Vile, was released on September 23.

She covered "Big Boss Man" on Mercury Rev's 2019 album Bobbie Gentry's The Delta Sweete Revisited.