Based in London, Rothko were founded by Mark Beazley in the spring of 1997, playing their first show at in August the same year. The original lineup consisted of Mark Beazley, Crawford Blair, and Jon Meade.

In 2000 Mark signed a publishing deal with . The original lineup disbanded in 2001, and Mark carried on the Rothko name. Late in 2001, Mark signed a deal with Too Pure Records. In 2001, he started his own label, .

In 2004, the lineup consisted of Mark Beazley, with Michael Donnellly on bass guitar, Ben Page on keyboards, and Tom Page on drums and percussion. The group toured extensively in France. In October of 2010, they amicably parted ways to concentrate on new musical endeavours.

Since August 2015, the band consists of Mark Beazley and Michael Donnelly.