Early years (1984–1993) The foundations for the Offspring began with guitarist/vocalist
Bryan "Dexter" Holland (who was a drummer at the time) and bassist
Greg "K." Kriesel playing music together in a garage in
Cypress, California, in 1983. After hearing the
T.S.O.L. album
Change Today? at a party, and following a riot at a 1984
Social Distortion show, they decided to form a band called Manic Subsidal, with Holland changing his role from drums to vocals and guitar. Holland recruited drummer
James Lilja, on an agreement that Lilja would play in Manic Subsidal, if Holland joined Lilja's band Clowns of Death. After Holland played with Clowns of Death, he asked the band's guitarist
Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman to join their band. This lineup started to practice in Kriesel's parents' house and played the band's first show, taking a road trip to
Santa Cruz to open for
White Flag and
Scared Straight, then playing a matinee the next day at the
Mabuhay Gardens in
San Francisco. The Offspring also recorded a demo tape in 1986, which received a positive review in
Maximum Rocknroll magazine. Lilja left the Offspring in 1987 to pursue a medical career in
oncology and was replaced by
Ron Welty, who was 16 years old at the time. After recording another demo in 1988, the Offspring signed a record deal with small-time label
Nemesis Records. In March 1989, the band teamed up with producer
Thom Wilson (who had worked with
the Adolescents,
Dead Kennedys,
Social Distortion,
the Vandals, and
Youth Brigade) to record their first album, titled
The Offspring. In 1992, Thom Wilson and the Offspring returned to the studio to record their second album
Ignition, which was released in October of that year. The band went on U.S. tours with
Pennywise and
Lunachicks, and a European tour with
NOFX. the band's relations with producer Thom Wilson had begun to strain. Three months later, the Offspring released what would become their biggest-selling album, titled
Smash. The album was initially released to little mainstream attention until its lead single "
Come Out and Play" received airplay from the Los Angeles radio station
KROQ-FM, helping to raise the band's profile and eventually hitting number one on the
Billboard rock charts for two weeks in the summer of 1994. The success of "Come Out and Play" not only propelled
Smash to peak at number four on the
Billboard 200 and receive simultaneous
gold and platinum certification four months after its release, but it also helped bring punk rock into the mainstream and is often considered a breakthrough album for the then-underground
pop-punk and
skate punk scenes. The album's next two singles, "
Self Esteem" and "
Gotta Get Away", had similar success to "Come Out and Play" in both chart performance and radio airplay.
Smash has continued to sell consistently well in the years since its release, setting an all-time record for most units sold by an independent label band at over 11 million records Touring for
Smash continued throughout the first half of 1995, playing their first shows in Japan and Australia (including appearances at
Big Day Out) and headlining tour dates with bands like
Weezer,
Quicksand,
No Use for a Name,
the Vandals, and
Lunachicks. By the end of the album's supporting tour, the Offspring had started playing at larger venues such as theaters and arenas as opposed to the clubs and smaller venues they were previously accustomed to. The band began writing and recording their fourth album,
Ixnay on the Hombre, in 1996. The album was released on February 4, 1997, which was also Noodles' 34th birthday. The album was not as successful as
Smash, although it did sell four million units and spawned five singles. The album saw the band move away from the political-punk themes common to many Epitaph bands and more into mainstream rock with songs like "
Gone Away" and "
I Choose"; the video for the latter was directed by Holland himself. Dexter commented that
Ixnay was probably not as well received as
Smash because it was such a departure, and that many fans probably were expecting
Smash Part Two. In 1998, the Offspring released
Americana. Three of the album's singles – "
Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)", "
Why Don't You Get a Job?" and "
The Kids Aren't Alright" – became the band's biggest hits and made the album the peak of the Offspring's mainstream popularity. The former song topped the charts in nine countries including Australia, Japan, Norway, and the United Kingdom. "
She's Got Issues" was also released as a single and was a minor hit. In 1999, the band appeared as themselves in the film
Idle Hands. They played a cover version of "
I Wanna Be Sedated" (originally by the
Ramones) and "Beheaded" at a school dance before Holland's character is killed. They also appeared at the infamous
Woodstock '99, where their performance was broadcast live on
pay-per-view television. 2000 saw the Offspring release their sixth album,
Conspiracy of One. The band intended to release the entire album online through their website to show their support for
downloading music on the internet. However, under threat of legal action by Columbia through their parent company Sony, only the first single "
Original Prankster" was released on their website (the rest of the record was leaked to fan sites). The band also sold T-shirts on their website with the
Napster logo on it and donated money to Napster creator
Shawn Fanning with the profits. The band also released a single "
Defy You" exclusively for the film
Orange County.
Ron Welty's departure, Splinter and Greatest Hits (2003–2005) On March 16, 2003, it was announced that longtime drummer
Ron Welty had left the group in 2003 to play in
Steady Ground, a band in which he played drums and co-produced (they broke up in 2007). It was later revealed that Welty was fired on January 3, 2003 by Holland and Noodles "without any prior notice" before recording their seventh album. That same year, the band released their seventh album,
Splinter. The Offspring recruited
Josh Freese to record the drums for
Splinter and later announced that former
Rocket from the Crypt drummer
Adam "Atom" Willard would be the replacement for Welty. The first single, "Hit That", had moderate success on MTV. "Hit That" used a variety of electronic samples, different from what the Offspring has done in the past. In 2005, the band released a
Greatest Hits album in both
DualDisc and regular CD editions.
Greatest Hits contains 14 of the band's hits between
Smash and
Splinter, and two previously unreleased songs, "
Can't Repeat" and "
Next to You" (a cover of
the Police song available as a hidden track). The compilation does not include any songs from the band's first two albums. The DualDisc contains video of Dexter and Noodles discussing the band's history and a bonus acoustic version of the song "Dirty Magic". About a month later, the band released a video DVD with all of their music videos and some videos from a live show. During the summer of 2005, the band played the
Vans Warped Tour for the first time and followed that with a European and Japanese tour. After the "Greatest Hits" world tour, the band took a break from writing, recording, and touring. During the hiatus, Willard was recruited by
Tom DeLonge for his band
Angels & Airwaves and released an album, ''
We Don't Need to Whisper'', in 2006.
Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (2006–2009) In November 2006, it was reported that the Offspring were back in the studio recording their eighth studio album
Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace with producer
Bob Rock and "a fistful of demos". In July 2007, Dexter announced that the band had finished two more songs and the album was being recorded in Orange County, California. It was announced on July 27, 2007, that former
Saves the Day drummer
Pete Parada had been chosen to be the Offspring's new drummer, replacing Atom Willard, who went to focus on
Angels and Airwaves. The band's first shows with Parada were at the Summer Sonic festival in Japan in August 2007. It was during these shows that the band debuted "
Hammerhead", which would become the first single from the new album. Parada did not record on the new album due to contract issues however; Josh Freese once again handled drum duties as he did with
Splinter. The Offspring co-headlined the Australian
Soundwave Festival during February and May 2008 alongside
Incubus and
Killswitch Engage. On April 9, 2008, Dexter announced that the album would be called
Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace and would be released on June 17. The album's first single, "Hammerhead", went to radio on May 6. Additionally, the Offspring's website provided an
MP3 download of the song to the general public on May 5. The second single from the album, "
You're Gonna Go Far, Kid", had topped the
Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart and stayed there for 11 weeks, a record for the band. It was also the Offspring's only
RIAA Gold song, proving it to be one of the most successful singles the band had released in their over 20-year career. Also in April 2008,
Epitaph Records announced that the label would be reissuing
Ignition and
Smash; both albums were remastered and
Smash contained a new 24-page booklet. The reissues were released on the same day as
Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, coinciding with the new album's release. The supporting tour for the album began on May 16 with a performance at the
X-Fest festival in California. On May 28, it was announced on the band's website that
Scott Shiflett (from
Face to Face) would replace bassist
Greg K. on current tour dates due to a birth in the family. Kriesel returned in mid-June. In October, with the addition of touring guitarist
Andrew Freeman, the band embarked on a three-week Japanese tour followed by a South American tour. On December 13, 2008, the Offspring headlined the nineteenth annual
KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas. In an interview at the Almost Acoustic Christmas show, guitarist
Noodles stated that the Offspring would be taking a break for a month or two and promised a US tour to kick off in 2009. They toured North America on their "Shit is Fucked Up" tour from May through July with
Dropkick Murphys,
Alkaline Trio,
Street Dogs,
Pennywise,
Shiny Toy Guns,
Sum 41, and
Frank Turner.
Days Go By (2010–2013) In May 2010, the band started doing preliminary work for what would be the ninth Offspring album with
Bob Rock in Hawaii. They recorded sporadically throughout the next year. In June 2010 the Offspring headlined two dates in Western Canada. The Offspring took a break from the studio in order to join
311 on their summer 2010 Unity Tour. The 19-date tour was held in amphitheaters around the U.S. and also featured
Pepper as a special guest. Before the 311 and Pepper tour, the Offspring played four West Coast dates in June, which were supported by
Terrible Things. In January 2011, session drummer
Josh Freese (who recorded drum tracks for the band's last two albums) mentioned on his website that he was in the studio working with the Offspring again.
Ronnie King had also confirmed that he would appear as the album's keyboardist after performing the same role on
Splinter. The band interrupted their work in 2011 in order to tour and took the main stage at the 2011
Reading and Leeds Festivals. After the tour, the band started recording in earnest and it was later announced that the album was in the mixing stage. They headlined the PunkSpring Festival in Japan on March 31, 2012, in
Tokyo and on April 1, 2012, in
Osaka with
Sum 41,
New Found Glory, and
All Time Low. At one of the shows, the Offspring performed a new song called "The Future Is Now". They were also confirmed to play at the
Rock am Ring/im Park and
Novarock festivals in the summer 2012. Prior to that, the band would be playing at the 20th annual
KROQ Weenie Roast, which was to take place at the
Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in
Irvine, California, on May 5, 2012. In March 2012, the band announced on their Twitter page that the album was finished. On April 20, 2012,
Kevin and Bean announced that the Offspring's new single "
Days Go By" would be premiered on April 27. Three days later, the band announced on their website that
Days Go By would be the name of their ninth studio album, which was eventually released on June 26, 2012. On April 30, 2012, the band released another song from
Days Go By, "Cruising California (Bumpin' in My Trunk)". In early fall 2012, the Offspring toured with
Neon Trees and
Dead Sara. They were co-headliners of the
Soundwave in Australia in 2013 alongside
Metallica and
Linkin Park. After this, they performed at the 20th annual
WJRR Earthday Birthday on April 13, 2013, and at the Gulfport Music Festival a month later. The Offspring spent much of the spring, summer, and fall of 2013 playing shows in Europe, the United States, and South America. In November and December 2013, they played the
Warped Tour for the first time in eight years, this time in Australia. On June 20, 2013, it was reported that the Offspring was working on a live album with engineer Ian Charbonneau. Instead of a standard release, the live album (which was recorded in Warsaw, Poland at the Orange Warsaw Festival held at Narodowy Stadium) would have had been released online but to date has not come to fruition.
Touring and Round Hill Music (2014–2016) The Offspring spent the summer of 2014 on tour commemorating the
20th anniversary of their third album
Smash. They headlined the Summer Nationals 2014 tour from July to September with support from their former labelmates
Bad Religion and
Pennywise as well as
the Vandals,
Stiff Little Fingers, and
Naked Raygun. To coincide with the Summer Nationals tour, the Offspring released cover versions of Pennywise's "No Reason Why" and Bad Religion's "Do What You Want" and "No Control" on their
YouTube account. These cover versions were released on the EP
Summer Nationals, which was released digitally in August 2014. On December 24, 2014,
Radio Contraband announced on their
Facebook page that they would premiere the Offspring's new single, "
Coming for You", on January 30, 2015. The Offspring toured in support of the "Coming for You" single and performed their 1998 album
Americana in its entirety at the
Amnesia Rockfest on June 19, 2015, in Montebello, Canada. The Offspring reclaimed the rights to their
Columbia Records albums in 2014. The band started auctioning off the rights to those albums in August 2015 (as well as their songwriting credits) for around $30 million.
Sony Music Entertainment (the owner of Columbia Records) and
Round Hill Music were allegedly interested in bidding for the Offspring's music. In January 2016, Round Hill acquired the band's Columbia Records catalogue and their career-long music publishing rights for $35 million. In December 2016, Round Hill signed a distribution deal with
Universal Music Enterprises for the Offspring's Columbia catalog (including the
Greatest Hits album). By September 2015, the band had finished two to three tracks. On July 20, 2016, a new Offspring song "Sharknado" premiered, which was recorded for the film
Sharknado: The 4th Awakens.
Let the Bad Times Roll and split with Greg K. and Pete Parada (2017–2021) Noodles was absent from the Offspring's 2017 tour with
Sublime with Rome due to a "sudden family matter"; filling in for him on dates were
Tom Thacker and Jonah Nimoy. That year, Holland earned a PhD in molecular biology from the
University of Southern California. On July 20, 2018, it was announced the Offspring would release a cover of 311's "
Down" and 311 would release a "reggaefied" cover of the Offspring's "
Self Esteem", which 311's lead singer
Nick Hexum referred to as "probably [his] favorite song of theirs;" the cover versions coincided with the co-headlining Never Ending Summer tour. On November 11, 2018, founding bassist Greg K. was fired from the Offspring. He was replaced on the band's headline Australian and Japan tours by
No Doubt bassist
Tony Kanal. After the tours ended, touring rhythm guitarist
Todd Morse became a full-time member, replacing Kriesel. In August 2019, Greg K. filed a lawsuit against Holland and Wasserman following an alleged decision by the two in November 2018 to ban Kriesel from the band's activities, including studio recordings and live performances. The case was settled out of court in 2023. On April 21, 2020, the Offspring released a rock cover of
Joe Exotic's
country song "Here Kitty Kitty" popularized by the 2020 Netflix documentary
Tiger King. It was recorded while the band was in
quarantine during the
COVID-19 pandemic. In a June 2020 interview with Download TV, Holland confirmed that the new album was "basically done" but added that its release was "on hold at the moment" because of the pandemic. In September 2020, Welty filed a lawsuit against the Offspring for unpaid
royalties. Welty claimed he was owed millions more profits from the Offspring's $35 million catalog sale and that former bandmate Dexter Holland tried to "erase" his contributions to the band's career by failing to pay him his rightful cut of the sale of the band's rights to Round Hill Music in 2015. Welty lost the case in March 2023 with the judge stating that some of Welty's allegations were "completely illogical". On November 4, 2020, the Offspring released a
Christmas song, a cover of
Darlene Love's "
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)". A physical version was released as a 7-inch vinyl single on December 11, 2020. On November 13, the Offspring uploaded a lyric video for their song "Huck It!" and announced a vinyl re-release of
Conspiracy of One for its 20th anniversary. On February 23, 2021, the Offspring announced their tenth album,
Let the Bad Times Roll, and released the title track as its lead single through streaming services; the album was released on April 16. On August 2, 2021, Parada announced he had been fired from the Offspring as he had declined to be
vaccinated against COVID-19. He said he acted on the advice of his doctor, as he suffers from
Guillain–Barré syndrome. In an interview published in November 2021, Holland and Wasserman denied that Parada had been fired and instead said they had been forced to hire other drummers for the safety of their crew on tour. Parada was replaced on tour by
Josh Freese. He would later form a new band,
the Defiant.
Supercharged, new members and upcoming music (2022–present) , Las Vegas in 2024 In a September 2022 interview with Brazilian radio station 89FM A Rádio Rock, Holland confirmed that the Offspring had begun working on new material for their eleventh studio album: "...[W]e wanna keep things rolling. We had to take time off in the pandemic and we feel like, 'We're back at it. Let's make the most of it right now.'" Holland told
Times Colonist in November that the band would begin recording their new album in January 2023 with
Bob Rock. On May 12, 2023, former
Black Flag,
Suicidal Tendencies and
Marilyn Manson drummer
Brandon Pertzborn announced that he had joined the Offspring as their new drummer to replace
Josh Freese, who was unable to perform with the band because of commitments with the
Foo Fighters as a replacement for
Taylor Hawkins, who died in 2022. After Pertzborn's arrival, touring multi-instrumentalist Jonah Nimoy also became an official member of the band. In a May 2024 interview with Atlanta's
99X radio station, Holland and guitarist
Noodles confirmed that the band's eleventh studio album was finished and that they were working on the cover art and album title. The following month, it was announced that the album was titled
Supercharged and would be released on October 11. The first single from the album, "Make It All Right", was released on June 7.
Ronnie King, who had previously played keyboards on
Splinter and
Days Go By, also teased his involvement with the new music. ==Artistry==