Chad was born in Harmony, but soon adopted by the Harris family who moved him out to Los Angeles. He lived with them until he was eight, completely unaware that he was even adopted. He ran away when he was eight, and when he returned a few days later, his family was gone, and he ended up in foster care. The closest thing he had to a father figure was Henry, the social worker who was originally assigned to his case. As he grew up, he fell in with a bad crowd, including gangleader Puff Dog, and fell in love with and married a young woman named Latoya. After creating a hit song that an unscrupulous record producer (Howard) took credit for, Chad attacked the man, and had to leave Los Angeles in a hurry. Henry had given him a shoebox that Chad had been found with all those years ago, which led Chad to believe that his family was in Harmony. He decided to leave Los Angeles and head across the country. When he asked Latoya to walk away from everything and take a chance with him, she refused to leave her family and friends, and Chad walked away from her.

Chad met an old man named Orville, who seemed to have information on his past. It was Orville who led Chad to Harmony Hospital to search for his birth certificate, at which point he surmised that he had been adopted (because the name on his birth certificate was not Chad Harris). Chad's hot lead fizzled and died when it turned out Orville had nothing to tell him. Later, Chad encountered a lounge singer named Crystal Harris, who thought he might be a child that a friend had asked to christen with her father's name (Chad Harris), but before Crystal was able to tell him anything about his past, she was gunned down with a bullet meant for Sheridan.

Chad's closest friends in Harmony include Simone and Whitney Russell, Ethan Winthrop, and Theresa Lopez Fitzgerald. His relationship with the Russell girls is complicated. He is interested in Whitney, but knows Simone is interested in him, and to a large extent leads her on. He has been trying to get something started with Whitney for a long time, but his unwillingness to be honest with her, and her own intuition that says he's only in for a good time, have kept her from giving him the time of day. It doesn't help that their mother, Eve Russell, strongly disapproves of him. She looks upon him as a reminder of her own bad past (which she has kept safely hidden), and doesn't want her daughter's involved with a high-school drop-out from the streets. Chad and Ethan became friends when Chad began working on the music for Ethan and Gwen's wedding, but lately Chad has been abusing that friendship by manipulating Ethan to be with Theresa, no matter how much Ethan says he loves Gwen. He sees Theresa as a kindred spirit -- a girl who isn't afraid to love, or fight for that love. He has no idea the lies Theresa has told to further her cause -- he is very much against the type of manipulations she's used, and has expressed that opinion repeatedly.

Chad's life has gotten a lot more complicated since he saved Whitney's life in a construction accident shortly before the prom. Saving her life again during the prom disaster only re-opened the wound, and because he refused to go to the hospital or the free clinic (he didn't want charity), he ended up staying at the Russell house after collapsing on the docks. He was finally going to tell Whitney that he was interested in her, but made the mistake of telling Simone that he loved her (thinking she was Whitney). He was going to correct the mistake, but Kay told him that Simone had an eating disorder to keep him from breaking her heart. Now he might have blown every chance with Whitney -- he manipulated a situation that resulted in Ethan telling Theresa once and for all that he was not in love with her, and Theresa was in a near-fatal motorcycle (sabotaged by Timmy) crash because she was so emotional she wasn't paying attention to the road.

Chad and Whitney have finally managed to get together, and become a couple, but there's a road block in their way. He has told Simone he loves her (first in the Russell home, secondly at the Crane mansion), and continues to allow her to hope for a future with him. With his silence, he is leading her on...and breaking her heart. He is still trying to get something going with Whitney, which horribly backfired when T.C. found him in bed with a topless (drugged) Whitney! Right now, Chad has become the latest in a long line of people to sacrifice his beliefs to lie for Theresa and keep everyone from finding out the truth about her scheming. But Chad has a problem of his own in Simone...he has continued to keep his silence about his feelings for Whitney, and plays the boyfriend for Simone. But he gets his heart's desire when Whitney finally admits her true feelings for him.

Chad and Whitney finally had a chance to express their love for each other the night Theresa was executed. They made love for the first time on the floor of the recording studio, and again after that. They still had not made any decision on what to tell Simone, until they received the news that Theresa had come back from the dead. After having a heartfelt talk with Ethan about lies and secrets, and admonishing Theresa for her continued scheming, both Chad and Whitney decided they could not live a life of lies, and wanted to tell the truth...until T.C. gave Chad permission to date Simone! So Chad and Simone became an official couple, and Chad has been sleeping with Whitney. Rather than take responsibility for his own actions and tell Simone that he made a mistake when he told her he loved her and then officially became her boyfriend, he is forcing Whitney to either tell Simone that she loves him, or he will never see her again.

Chad recently publicly declared that he was dating Simone, even though he was sleeping with Whitney. He continues to break Simone's heart by dating her and sleeping with her sister, but thanks to Simone, it's soon all out in the open when first Simone discovers Chad and Whitney, then T.C. and Eve learn that the man who is portraying himself as their younger daughter's boyfriend is really sleeping with their older daughter! T.C. and Eve were understandably furious, but Eve soon got over her anger. T.C. could not be consoled though...not only had Chad horribly mistreated his younger daughter, but he blamed Chad for what he viewed as an end to Whitney's tennis career. When he asked Whitney to go with him to L.A. she accepted, and was disowned by her father and sister.

Things went from bad to worse once they got to L.A. Although Chad had insisted for years that he had never been seriously involved before Whitney and had never been married, he was lying. His wife Latoya had waited for him for four long years, believing that he would come home to her. He also had to deal with the temptation of a beautiful young singer named Syd Valentine, but luckily, he never fell for her trap. It all came to a head when Latoya and her gangster cousin Puff Dog confronted Chad and Whitney at the hospital. Latoya demanded to know how he could live with her for all those years then walk out without a second thought. Whitney was devastated to learn that Chad had lied to her all along. Shortly thereafter, she was shot, and Chad went to confront Puff Dog. He was furious to learn that Fox had saved all their lives by giving Puff Dog Syd's contract (he doesn't realize that Fox has motives of his own). When everyone else returned to Harmony, Chad stayed in L.A. to tie up loose ends (such as his marriage). When he returned to Harmony, he was shocked to find his former fiancée in the arms of his supposed-friend Fox.

Chad and Whitney were finally getting everything back on track, and were even making plans to be married when they had the biggest bombshell of all dropped on them -- Chad was Eve and Julian's son, which made him Whitney's half-brother! Whitney immediately pushed Chad away, and while Chad said he understood they couldn't be together, he made it clear that he didn't want anyone else in Whitney's life. He finally took a job with Crane Industries with the sole intent of taking over the company and destroying the Cranes, who he blames for all his troubles. Things went from bad to worse when he found Whitney and Fox together. When he learned Whitney was pregnant he initially thought the child might be his, but Eve soon announced that Fox was the father. He threw himself into his work, and was alarmed when new co-worker, Valerie Davis, announced that Fox was trying to gaslight him.

Chad couldn't forget the feelings he'd had for Whitney, even though he knew they could never act on them again. When Whitney chose to give up the baby boy she had, Chad adopted the child (not realising it was his biological son). Chad eventually learned the truth that Miles was his son, and was determined to raise his son with Whitney. Although the two made love one more time, during the Harmony tsunami, Whitney could not reconcile herself to loving her half-brother and fled to the convent. Chad tried unsuccessfully to get her to change her mind, then tried moving on with Valerie, but was unable to get Whitney out of his heart. He followed Whitney to Rome, and he and Luis came close to catching up with Whitney and the mysterious monk that she was following.