Comprised of four members from Indianapolis, The Ink Spots were tremendously popular and influential in R&B history. The founding members of the band—Jerry Daniels (guitarist/lead tenor), Orville "Hoppy" Jones (cello/bass vocalist), Ivory "Deek" Watson (baritone/songwriter), and Charlie Fuqua (tenor/guitarist)—met while Watson was performing on the road. They moved to New York under the name the Riff Brothers until 1932, when Watson was inspired by a splash of ink from a fountain pen and convinced the other members to adopt the name, the Ink Spots.

In the early 1930s the Ink Spots specialized in up tempo jazz, traveling and performing for several years before they obtained a record contract with RCA Victor in 1935. By 1939 the Ink Spots had made almost twelve records. The same year Jerry Daniels fell ill and could not keep pace with the band's schedule of recording and touring. Tenor Billy Kenny was hired as Daniels's replacement. Soon after Kenny joined the group they enjoyed their first major hit, If I Didn't Care. Kenny contributed to the band's new slower pace, which sparked audiences. The group also began to include a talking chorus, which would become their trademark. The Ink Spots signed a five year contract with Decca Records and made a string of hits including Address Unknown and We Three (My Echo, My Shadow, and Me).

The Ink Spots were at the peak of their popularity in the 1940s, when they worked with greats including Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Lena Horne, Nat King Cole, Cab Calloway, and Dinah Washington. They had regular radio shows and appeared in two Hollywood movies, The Great American Broadcast of 1941 and Pardon My Sarong (1942). In 1944, Hoppy Jones died of a brain hemorrhage and was replaced by Billy Kenney's twin brother, Herb. In 1951, The Ink Spots split. Watson cited the music industry as the main cause of the breakup, with booking agents and managers creating conflict between the members.

The Ink Spots were famous for their sentimental love songs and smooth harmonizing. Their style inspired a huge trend of popular black vocal doo-wop groups of the early rock 'n' roll period. Although none succeeded in replicating the distinctive Ink Spot sound, the succession of important black doo-wop groups that would follow owed the Ink Spots a great debt. The group's major hits include My Prayer, I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire, To Each His Own, Maybe, Java Jive, Prisoner of Love, It's a Sin to Tell a Lie, and I'll Never Smile Again. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.¹¹⁶