Following the release of two succesful solo albums, British vocalist/songwriter Gary Hughes was making the preparations to begin recording what was to be his next solo album. It wasn't long before the idea of a single album was scratched since Gary Hughes, ended up recording 28 songs that were to be divided into two albums - one containing the heavier material, and one that would contain the ballads. Soon after Vinny Burns (Dare, Ultravox) joined the band. Given the fact that Mike Stone was assigned to mix the albums, the Hughes/Burns project evolved into a band situation, marking the first official incarnation of TEN.

TEN's first album (named X) was released in May 1996 becoming an instant success in Japan. With most of the songs already written, the band returned to the studio in order to record their second album. The Name of the Rose was released in September 1996 and was equally successful to the first album, gaining some enthusiastic reviews from the critics. After a very successful tour, TEN returned to the studio in order to record their next studio album. The mixing duties again were appointed to Mike Stone and The Robe was released in September 1997. The Robe marked a change in the overall sound of TEN, which evolved into a combination of the instantly recognizable Melodic Rock/Hard Rock sound of the two previous albums and powerful/epic atmospheres and influences. The band toured heavily for a year, in support of their newly released album, while in 1998 the band's Japanese label ZERO Records and the European Frontiers Records released a double live album named Never Say Goodbye.

TEN's popularity in Europe increased when the band signed to major label Mercury Records for the release of their 4th studio album Spellbound. The album was released in April 1999, was produced by the well-known producer Rafe Mckenna and it was one of the most successful TEN albums in Europe. It was also the first TEN album for which renowned artist Luis Royo designed the cover. In 1999 the band returned in the studio in order to begin the recordings for their next album. Babylon, which was released in August 2000 and featured renowned keyboard player Don Airey, was a concept album which was set in the future and was based around the story of a computer programmer and his tragic love affair.Soon after, the band returned in the studio to record the follow up album of Babylon named Far Beyond the World.The recordings took place in Hannover,Germany with Tommy Newton behind the mixing desk and ex-Hard Rain keyboard player Paul Hodson taking the place of Don Airey. In December 2001, TEN released Far Beyond the World, however, just before the promotion of the new album had begun, guitarist Vinny Burns announced his departure from the band, citing creative differences.

During 2002 and 2003, the band was on a break since Gary Hughes and the rest of the band had been working on Hughes' two-part rock opera project named ''Once and Future King''. TEN returned in the forefront again with the release of Return to Evermore in 2004 through Gary Hughes' own record label Intensity Records, while in 2005 the band announced that they would release a double disk ''Best Of'' collection, aptly named The Essential Collection 1995-2005 in order to celebrate the band's tenth anniversary. The Essential Collection 1995-2005 featured newly recorded versions of the songs divided into two disks - one consisting of the ballads and one of the heavier songs.In addition to ''The Essential Collection'', the band announced the release of a new album in 2006 and so, in August 2006 the band released The Twilight Chronicles which featured another change in the sound of the band, leaning towards a more symphonic sound. By 2007, TEN has been put on a hiatus and in May 2008 Chris Francis had also announced his departure from the band.

On July 2010 it was announced that the band had been working on a new TEN album named Stormwarning, due to be released in early 2011. The new album would feature members Gary Hughes, John Halliwell, Paul Hodson and Mark Zonder (Fates Warning) and would be produced by the well known producer Dennis Ward. On December 2010 it was officially announced by Frontiers Records, that Stormwarning was to be released in Japan on the 19th of January, in North America on the 15th of February 2010 and in Europe on the 18th of the same month. The band is yet to announce any possible tour dates, even though there are plans for a tour at the end of the year. On January 21st, it was announced that the band filmed a video with Devin Dehaven as the director.