He was a cast member of the popular sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1990–1993. His 1996 stand-up special Bring the Pain established him as one of the hottest comedians in Hollywood. The controversy around his 1997 routine "Niggas vs Black People" helped his rise to stardom. In addition to acting, Rock has had three HBO comedy specials: Bring the Pain in 1996, Chris Rock: Bigger and Blacker in 1999, and most recently, Never Scared in 2004. HBO also airs his talk show, The Chris Rock Show. Rock has starred in films since 1986.

His comedy typically involves race relations in the United States, although he devotes a large portion of his material to women. Though not directly based on it, a lot of his comedic views are rooted in his teen years; his very strict parents, concerned about the neighborhood schools had him bused to an almost all-white high school in Bensonhurst (a white-ethnic neighborhood of Brooklyn that was known at the time for poor race relations). Rock claims to have been arrested four times, once for vehicular assault on a youth who had robbed him, and three times for traffic violations, including driving without a license and "driving too slow". In the fall of 2005, the UPN television network premiered a comedy series called Everybody Hates Chris that is based on Rock's school days.

In 2005, Rock hosted the 77th Academy Awards. The decision to have Rock host the awards was seen by some to bring an "edge" to the ceremony, and to make it more relevant or appealing to younger audiences. Some were worried that Rock's outspoken and often crude humor would tarnish the staid image of the awards, but aside from a tense moment involving Sean Penn his comedy ruffled few feathers. Rock had been making jokes about actor Jude Law; Penn decided they were cruel and corrected him on stage.

Rock has been married to Malaak Compton-Rock since November 23, 1996. Malaak is the founder and executive director of StyleWorks, a non-profit, full-service salon that provides free services for women leaving welfare and entering the work force. The couple have two children together, Lola Simone (born June 28, 2002) and Zahra Savannah (born May 22, 2004).

On September 9, 2005 Chris Rock said "George Bush hates midgets" before saying his original script during a telethon similar to the Kanye West situation. The tone seemed to be more of a parody than actual opinion.

Thursday September 22, 2005 was the day the premier episode of Everybody Hates Chris aired.