Quick Facts About The Offspring

• The Offspring are notorious for burning through drummers, including drummer Ron Welty, drummer James Lilja, and drummer Atom Willard. Parada has been with the band since 2007. Prior to playing with the band, he was a member of Alkaline Trio and World in Pain.
• Their third album Smash is considered their biggest commercial and critical success. It is the best-selling album by an independent label of all time, selling over eleven million copies worldwide and going 6x Platinum in the United States.
• The Offspring’s music has appeared in a wide array of movies and TV shows, including King of the Hill, The Cleveland Show, Batman Forever, American Pie 2, Bowling for Columbine, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and many more.
• Their track “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)” was parodied by “Weird Al” Yankovic, whose rendition is called “Pretty Fly for a Rabbi.”
• Dexter Holland, the frontman of The Offspring, has an estimated net worth of $80 million. In addition to playing music, Holland is a pilot with a Ph.D. in molecular biology.
• Before forming The Offspring, Dexter played in a band called Manic Subsidal, which he formed in 1984. Dexter was initially the drummer for Manic Subsidal, but he ended up becoming their lead vocalist and changing the band’s name to The Offspring. They subsequently got their first record deal with Nemesis Records in 1988.

The Offspring: The Music

Below is the story of how the band got started, their path to success, and what they’re up to now.

The Offspring: Early Days

• The Offspring started out as a literal garage band. The first members were Dexter Holland and bassist Greg Kriesel, who would play music together in Dexter’s garage in Cypress, California, in the early 80s.
• An album by T.S.O.L. and a chaotic Social Distortion concert inspired Holland and Kriesel to form Manic Subsidal, which eventually became The Offspring. Guitarist Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman joined the group in 1985 – he was the janitor at the other members’ high school. Legend has it that Noodles was only asked to join the band because he was old enough to buy the other guys booze.
• The band’s name was inspired by a low-budget movie called The Offspring: They Were Born to Kill. Their first track, “I’ll Be Waiting,” was released in 1986 as a 7” single. The song was produced by The band and Jim Dotson and released via their own label, Black Label Records, which they named after Carling Black Label beer.

Smash and Becoming a Household Name

• The band’s first full-length albums, The Offspring and Ignition, were released via Nemesis Records and produced by Thom Wilson. Wilson had previously done production work for the band’s heroes, Social Distortion. However, it wasn’t until the band signed to Epitaph Records that they broke through into the mainstream. They would later sign with Columbia Records.
• Smash, which was released in 1994 and produced by Wilson, was the band’s second album released via Epitaph. The record included the singles “Come Out and Play,” “Self Esteem,” “Bad Habit,” and “Gotta Get Away.”
• After the release of Smash, it was clear to the band that the album was different. It hit No. 4 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart, going on to receive positive reviews from numerous music outlets. Stephen T. Erlewine of Allmusic described how the band had achieved the impossible by hitting the top five with an independent label release, all the while praising the music for being “relentlessly heavy.”
• Following the release of Smash, the band embarked on a US tour, supported by acts like Pennywise, SNFU, Bad Religion, NOFX, and Battery Club.
• The band released a remastered edition of Smash in 2008 in tandem with the June release of Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, their eighth album. Smash was re-released again in 2014 in celebration of the album’s 20th anniversary. Other albums include Ixnay on the Hombre, Americana, and Conspiracy of One. Popular singles include “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid” and “Hammerhead.”

What Is The Offspring Doing Now?

In 2021, The Offspring released their tenth studio album, Let The Bad Times Roll. Produced by Bob Rock and distributed via Concord, the album is their first studio release in nine years. Let The Bad Times Roll features the single “Coming for You,” which was previously released in 2015, six years before the subsequent release of the full album. The song was the official theme for the WWE Elimination Chamber the year of its release.