Soft Machine Legacy was launched in October 2004 after changing their name from Soft Works by John Etheridge (replacing Allan Holdsworth), Elton Dean, Hugh Hopper, and John Marshall. A coalition of long-time members from different eras of the legendary Soft Machine, coming together for the first time as a unit.
In 2006 came the sad death of Elton Dean, whose place was taken by Theo Travis and when Hugh Hopper sadly passed away after a long illness in 2009, a decision was made to continue with Roy Babbington. The "Legacy" suffix was dropped in 2015 and the group continued as Soft Machine.