Kayak was a Dutch rock band formed by Ton Scherpenzeel and Pim Koopman in Hilversum in 1972. In 1973, their debut album See See the Sun was released, including three hit singles. Their popularity was mainly in the Netherlands, with their top hit "Ruthless Queen" reaching No. 6 on the Dutch charts in March 1979. They disbanded in 1982 after releasing nine albums.

In 1999, the band was asked to perform on the TV show De Vrienden van Amstel Live. After this performance, they decided to reform, and released nine further studio albums and three live albums.

Co-founder Ton Scherpenzeel is the only member who has played on every Kayak album. Apart from keyboards, he also plays accordion, occasional bass guitar (for instance on the entire Nostradamus album) and double bass. He also provides backing vocals and sings lead vocals on the song "Love's Aglow" on the original Merlin album.

Singer/drummer Max Werner provided lead vocals on the first five albums. He switched to drums and percussion in 1978, a position he held for the following four albums. In 1999, he returned as lead singer for the Close to the Fire album. After that album, he did a short tour with Kayak, but left the band in 2000. Werner has released four solo albums and he had a hit in Europe in 1981 with the single "Rain in May".

Johan Slager played guitar on every album until the split in 1982. He joined the band for the occasional live performances in the 1990s, but was not involved in the reunion of 1999. He was replaced by Rob Winter, who played on two albums before Joost Vergoossen became the next lead guitarist.

Drummer Pim Koopman was also a founding member. After "The Last Encore" in 1976, he decided to leave the band; he was offered a job as a full-time producer, working with Dutch artists Maywood, Valensia, Robby Valentine, and Petra Berger. He came back as drummer in 1999 and did not leave the drum stool until his death on 23 November 2009, aged 56. Apart from drums, Koopman played occasional keyboards and guitar, as well as providing lead and backing vocals. After leaving the band in 1976, he was replaced by Charles Schouten, who was subsequently replaced by vocalist Max Werner in 1978 until the band's breakup in 1982. Following his death, he was replaced by Hans Eijkenaar.

Original bass player Cees van Leeuwen left in 1975 to concentrate on his studies. He became a lawyer, and in 2002, he became the Dutch State Secretary of Culture and Media in the short lived Balkenende 1 cabinet. He was replaced by Bert Veldkamp, who played bass from 1975 to 1976 and returned for the 1999 reunion. After the 2003 album Merlin – Bard of the Unseen, Veldkamp left Kayak because he could not combine his work in a band with his own career.

Peter Scherpenzeel, Ton's younger brother, was Kayak's roadie in the early days. In 1978, he joined as the band's bass player, when Theo de Jong left after just one album. Peter played bass on Kayak's best-selling album Phantom of the Night, as well as on the two following albums.