The band name originates from the Thompson submachine gun, a nickname given to Perković while he fought in the Croatian War of Independence. Although mostly formed in Čavoglave, Thompson is currently based in Zagreb. Thompson came to be popular during the Croatian war in 1991, with the release of the first single "Bojna Čavoglave", which is about the Croatian participation in the Yugoslav Wars and was included in the compilation album "Rock za Hrvatsku". This song, with slightly different lyrics, named "Branitelji Sarajeva", was sung by the BiH Army during the Siege of Sarajevo ("Sarajevo zaboravit neće nikada"). During the 1990s Thompson became popular in Croatia with the release of the first album "Moli mala" in 1992. They later became popular again with the hit "Prijatelji" in 1998. 