Formed in 1999 from the ashes of an earlier incarnation also called Ugly In The Morning, a 3-piece acoustic guitars / vocal harmony group formed by Eric Lee, Noel Ong, and David Baptista. The earlier Ugly In The Morning was the resident cover band for three months at Moods, almost a year at Karma at Boat Quay, and also played slots (where available) at Off Quay at Boat Quay. The founding members decided that playing covers in pubs was not very fulfilling and the decision to write original music in a full band format was made.

The original members of Ugly In The Morning included Eric Lee (Vocals), Noel Ong (Rhythm and Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), David Baptista (Rhythm and Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Sunny Lai (Bass), and Boon Gee (Drums). In 2000, the guys joined the Yamaha Band Alert competition under the name "Red Cow" where they played the first song they ever wrote together, East Of Freedom. The band emerged as finalists and not only did their drummer, Boon Gee, win the "Best Drummer" Award, the band also garnered honourable mention from the judges.

In 2001, bassist Sunny left to pursue other interests and was replaced by Darren Theseira. The name "Red Cow" was gladly dropped and replaced officially with Ugly In The Morning. The band then began writing and rehearsing their original songs.

In 2002, Neal Cooke joined the band as second vocalist and the band played two gigs at OD's Backstage Music Bar, where they featured their original songs. The band began recording their original material in June at Myx Studio. In August, Darren left the band and was replaced by current bassist, Clement Yang. The new line-up played their first gig at the Music Festival "Through the Ears 2002", organised by Trippy Factory and held at Jams the Club at Clarke Quay in December.

In 2003, the band played at "Fiesta at the Ridge" held at and organised by NUS as well as the NUS RockFest 2003 organised by Sheares Hall and held at the Youth Park. The band also played two shows at the Singapore Street Festival 2003 held in June. Most recently, in August, the band played at VoiDeck Music 2, which was organised by Luther Music and held at The Substation.

Ugly In The Morning's sound can best be described as an eclectic mix of Funk, Blues and Rock with liberal doses of R&B/Soul with emphasis on vocal harmonies and kicking funk rhythms.