War (originally called Eric Burdon and War) is an American funk/soul/rock band from Long Beach, California, formed in 1969.

The band is known for several hit songs in the 1970s (including "Spill the Wine", "The World Is a Ghetto", "The Cisco Kid", "Why Can't We Be Friends?", "Low Rider", and "Summer"). A musical crossover band, War became known for its eclectic blend of different musical styles, an amalgam of the sounds and styles the band members heard living in the racially diverse ghettos of Los Angeles.

Their album The World Is a Ghetto was Billboard's best-selling album of 1973. The band transcended racial and cultural barriers with a multi-ethnic lineup. War was subject to many lineup changes over the course of its existence, leaving member Leroy "Lonnie" Jordan as the only original member in the current lineup; four other members created a new group called the Lowrider Band.

In 1962, Howard E. Scott and Harold Brown formed a group called the Creators in Long Beach, California. Within a few years, they had added Charles Miller, Morris "B. B." Dickerson, and Lonnie Jordan to the lineup. Lee Oskar and Papa Dee Allen later joined as well. They all shared a love of diverse styles of music, which they had absorbed living in the racially mixed Los Angeles ghettos. The Creators recorded several singles on Dore Records while working with Tjay Contrelli, a saxophonist from the band Love. In 1968, the Creators became Nightshift (named because Brown worked nights at a steel yard) and started performing with Melvyn "Deacon" Jones from Richmond Indiana, a rhythm and blues artist. Deacon Jones, as he was referred to, is often confused with Deacon Jones, the American football player who was from the same era. The band then changed their name from Nightshift to War.

Nightshift was conceived by record producer Jerry Goldstein ("My Boyfriend's Back", "Hang on Sloopy", "I Want Candy") and singer Eric Burdon (ex-lead singer of the British band the Animals). In 1969, Goldstein saw musicians who would eventually become War playing at the Rag Doll in North Hollywood, backing Deacon Jones, the blues artist, and he was attracted to the band's sound. Jordan claimed that the band's goal was to spread a message of brotherhood and harmony, using instruments and voices to speak out against racism, hunger, gangs, crimes, and turf wars, and promote hope and the spirit of brotherhood. Eric Burdon and War began playing live shows to audiences throughout Southern California before entering into the studio to record their debut album Eric Burdon Declares "War". The album's best known track, "Spill the Wine", was a hit and launched the band's career.

Eric Burdon and War toured extensively across Europe and the United States. The subtitle of a 1970 review in the New Musical Express of their first UK gig in London's Hyde Park read: "Burdon and War: Best Live Band We've Ever Seen". Their show at Ronnie Scott's Club in London on September 16, 1970, is historically notable for being the last public performance for Jimi Hendrix, who joined them onstage for the last 35 minutes of Burdon and War's second set; a day later he was dead. A second Eric Burdon and War album, a two-disc set titled The Black-Man's Burdon was released in 1970. During the subsequent tour, Burdon collapsed on the stage during a concert, caused by an asthma attack, and the band continued the tour without him before Burdon left the band in the middle of its European tour. They finished the tour without him and returned to record their first album as War.

War (1971) met with only modest success, but later that year, the band released All Day Music which included the singles "All Day Music" and "Slippin' into Darkness". The latter single sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in June 1972. In 1972, they released The World Is a Ghetto which was even more successful. Its second single, "The Cisco Kid", shipped gold, and the album attained the number one spot on Billboard 200, and was Billboard magazine's Album of the Year as the best-selling album of 1973.

This band lives up to its name. The powerful, deceptively torpid groove evokes the pace of inner-city pleasures like 'All Day Music' and 'Summer.' But however jokey and off-the-cuff they sound, they're usually singing about conflict, often racial conflict—the real subject of 'The Cisco Kid' and 'Why Can't We Be Friends?,' which many take for novelty songs.