Marillion were formed in 1979 as Silmarillion, after J.R.R. Tolkien's book The Silmarillion, by Mick Pointer and Steve Rothery. They played their first gig at Berkhamsted Civic Centre on 1 March 1980.
The band name was shortened to Marillion in 1981 to avoid potential copyright conflicts at the same time as Fish and bassist Diz Minnett joined after an audition at Leyland Farm Studios in Buckinghamshire on 2 January 1981. Rothery and keyboardist Brian Jelliman completed the first line-up; the first gig with this line-up was at the Red Lion Pub in Bicester on 14 March 1981. By the end of 1981, Kelly had replaced Jelliman, with Trewavas replacing Minnett in 1982.
Mick Pointer is now playing with Arena
Pete Trewevas is also a member of Transatlantic
Fish has gone on to a solo career.
Steve Hogarth records solo with the band name of H

Besides numerous studio albums, singles and live recordings Marillion releases a series of

1. Racket Records Releases which are downloads from the webside.
2. Christmas CDs are free issue to Fan Club members only, very limited runs. All titles now out of print, although are available for purchase as download only when taking out or renewing Fan Club membership
3. Following an idea implemented by King Crimson, Marillion have examined their archives of concert recordings
4. (Front Row Club Releases) and are releasing the best shows (either by performance quality, by sound quality, or importance/rarity of the show) on a subscription basis. Fans pay for a subscription of four shows up front and, as the shows are released, they are automatically mailed to the subscriber. Fans can also use their "credit" to purchase back-issues, provided they are still in stock. Only a limited number of copies are manufactured for each FRC release (believed to be no more than 3,000) and are not re-issued once sold out.