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By the time A&R director Bryan Huttenhower signed them to 'A&M' in 1987 (which was soon sold to 'PolyGram' in 1988), the band had accumulated several original songs to release their self-titled debut in 1989; the final track of which, Play With Me, was used in the "mall chase" scene of the film Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. The feature on the film broke the album to the popular audience, for the album featuring a heavy metal, pop, funk and blues mix, previously had been met with indifference.
Sub-titled 'A Funked Up Fairy Tale' Pornograffitti (1990), a concept album based on the life and times of its central character, fared much better than its predecessor. The breakthrough on the album was the acoustic ballad track More Than Words that reached number 1 and number 2 on the US and UK charts respectively. The band now became known for their diverse musical style that transcended many genres, along with Bettencourt's innovative guitar work.
Extreme expanded their audience beyond heavy metal with their appearance at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in April 1992. That appearance interrupted their recording sessions for the double set III Sides To Every Story (1992). The album was a very ambitious affair that echoed of 1970s progressive rock. The first single from the album, Rest in Peace, had an accompanying video clip inspired by a film short by the National Film Board of Canada called Neighbors.
Mike Mangini (ex-Annihilator) replaced Paul Geary on drums just before their 1994 appearance at the Donington Monsters of Rock festival.
Waiting For The Punchline (1995), the first record to feature Mangini on 3 tracks, was their second least successful affair by receiving a 10 and 40 in the UK and US charts respectively. A heavily marketed affair, it still failed to increase their dwindling fan base, nor did it offer much new to their repertoire other than a few extra song titles; as a band they went silent after - splitting on amicable terms.
On the recommendation of former Extreme manager Ray Danniels, in 1996, Gary Cherone joined Van Halen to be the front-man on their 1998 release, Van Halen III; he would leave three years later.
Nuno Bettencourt would released his first solo album, Schizophonic (1997). In 1998 he formed Mourning Widows who released a self-titled album that year and a follow-up album, Furnished Souls for Rent (2000). Following the breakup of that band, he released another solo album under the project name of Population 1 in 2002. After getting members for the supporting tour, he decided to keep the name Population 1 and the first release as a band was the five-song EP, Sessions from Room 4 in 2004. The band's name then changed to DramaGods for a follow-up CD, Love (2005). Bettencourt, along with band mates Kevin Figueiredo and Steve Ferlazzo, went on to collaborate with Perry Farrell's project Satellite Party.
A 13-track Extreme "best-of" collection, The Best of Extreme: An Accidental Collocation of Atoms? (1998), and a re-packaged collection with a different track listing titled Extreme - The Collection (2002) would then arrive.
Extreme reformed for a short tour in 2004.
July 2007 would see Bettencourt quit Satellite Party for the unification of Extreme with Cherone, Badger and Kevin Figueiredo (drums; ex-DramaGods ex-Satellite Party). Saudades de Rock (2008) would follow.
In 2016, the band released Pornograffitti Live 25: Metal Meltdown, an audio/video presentation of its 2015 concert at Las Vegas' Hard Rock Casino.
On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Extreme among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 'Universal Studios' fire.
Extreme headlined Shirock 2019 alongside Scottish hard rock band Nazareth.
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