The Offspring

The Offspring is an American rock band formed in Huntington Beach, California in 1984. Since its formation, the band's line-up has included Dexter Holland (lead vocals, guitar), Noodles ^{Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman} (lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals) and Greg K. ^{Greg Kriesel} (bass, backing vocals). From 1987 up until when he left in 2003, the band also included Ron Welty (drums, percussion). Their current drummer is Pete Parada, formerly of Face to Face ^{Face to Face (punk band)} , and Saves the Day, who has been with the band since 2007.

The Offspring has been credited, along with fellow California punk bands Green Day and Rancid ^{Rancid (band)} , with reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the United States during the mid-1990s. To date, The Offspring has released eight studio albums, one compilation, four EPs and three DVDs. They have sold over 34 million albums worldwide, making them one of the best-selling punk rock acts of all time. Each album since the release of their 1994 album Smash ^{Smash (album)} has sold over a million units.

Since the release of Smash, which is the best-selling independent label ^{independent record label} album of all time, The Offspring has achieved commercial success over five albums, with singles such as "Come Out and Play ^{Come Out and Play (song)} ", and "Self Esteem ^{Self Esteem (song)} ". The band's next three albums, Ixnay on the Hombre, Americana ^{Americana (album)} and Conspiracy of One, were also successful, with Ixnay on the Hombre and Conspiracy of One reaching platinum certification ^{Music recording sales certification} , and Americana achieving multi-platinum status. Longtime drummer Ron Welty left The Offspring in early 2003, and was replaced by Atom Willard ^{Adam "Atom" Willard} . Later that year, the band released their next album, Splinter ^{Splinter (The Offspring album)} , to moderate sales and fairly warm reviews. In 2005, The Offspring released a greatest hits album ^{Greatest Hits (The Offspring album)} and toured in support of the compilation. Their most recent studio album, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, was released on June 17, 2008 with the hit singles
"You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" and "Hammerhead ^{Hammerhead (song)} ." The Offspring is currently planning a ninth studio album, which is due for release in 2010.

 
Early years (1984 / 1987)

The band was formed by guitarist Dexter Holland and bassist Greg Kriesel, who met on their high school cross-country team, under the name "Manic Subsidal". The decision to form a band came outside of a Social Distortion concert when both were refused entry. and Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman, the school janitor, was welcomed into the band, allegedly because he was old enough to purchase alcohol ^{alcoholic beverage} for Holland and Kriesel, both of whom were under the legal drinking age. and was replaced by Ron Welty, who was only 16 years old at the time.


The Offspring and Ignition (1988 / 1993)

After recording a demo in 1988, The Offspring signed a record deal with a small-time label, Nemesis Records. Then in March 1989, the band teamed up with producer ^{Record producer} Thom Wilson (of The Adolescents, Dead Kennedys, Social Distortion, The Vandals and Youth Brigade ^{Youth Brigade (band)} fame) to record their first album, titled The Offspring ^{The Offspring (album)} .

In 1998, The Offspring released Americana ^{Americana (album)} . 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 making the album the peak of The Offspring's mainstream popularity. "She's Got Issues" was released too, 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 ^Ramones ) and "Beheaded" at a school dance before Holland's character is killed. They also appeared at the infamous Woodstock 1999, where their performance was broadcast live on pay-per-view television.

2000 saw the band release their sixth album called Conspiracy of One. The band intended to release the entire album online through their official website, to show their support for downloading music ^{music download} 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 official 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 new single "Defy You" exclusively for the film Orange County ^{Orange County (film)} .


Ron Welty's departure and Splinter (2003 / 2005)


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Nearly three years after the release of Conspiracy of One, long-time drummer Ron Welty left the band in 2003 to start Steady Ground, a band in which he plays drums and co-produces. Neither Welty or the remaining members have elaborated on the departure.

In 2003, the band released their seventh album Splinter ^{Splinter (The Offspring album)} . The Offspring recruited Josh Freese to record the drums for Splinter and later announced that Atom Willard would be the official replacement for Ron Welty. The album's original title was to be Chinese Democrazy (You Snooze, You Lose), from the name of the long-delayed album ^{Chinese Democracy} by Guns N' Roses. As a result, Axl Rose filed a cease and desist order against The Offspring, but eventually began to calm down when he realized the date this was announced was April 1. The first single "Hit That" enjoyed 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 ^{Greatest Hits (The Offspring album)} album in both DualDisc and regular CD editions. Greatest Hits contains 14 of the band's hits between Smash ^{Smash (album)} and Splinter ^{Splinter (The Offspring album)} , and two previously unreleased songs, "Can't Repeat" and "Next to You" (a cover of The Police) (a hidden track). The compilation does not contain any material from the first album ^{The Offspring (album)} and Ignition ^{Ignition (The Offspring album)} . 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 tour of Europe and Japan. 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)


, Greg ^{Greg Kriesel} , Pete ^{Pete Parada} and Andrew Freeman ^{Andrew Freeman (musician)} in concert with Noodles ^{Kevin Wasserman} in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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. The album, in its entirety, can be streamed online for free at iMeem.com.

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 on to join Angels and Airwaves. The band's first shows with Parada were at the Summer Sonic festival in Japan in August of the same year. It was during these shows that the band debuted "Hammerhead ^{Hammerhead (song)} " which would become the first single from the new album. Parada did not play on the new album however; Josh Freese once again handled drum duties, as he did with Splinter ^{Splinter (The Offspring album)} .

The Offspring co-headlined the Australian Soundwave Festival during February and May of 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 official site provided an MP3 download of the song to the general public on May 5. Their second single from the album, "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid", had topped the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart, and had stayed there for 11 weeks, a record for the band, along with proving the song to be one of the most successful singles the band has released in their twenty year career.

Also in April 2008, Epitaph Records also announced that the label would be re-issuing Ignition ^{Ignition (The Offspring album)} and Smash ^{Smash (album)} ; both albums were remastered, and Smash contained a new 24 page booklet. The re-issues 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 ^{Face to Face (punk band)} ) would replace bassist Greg K ^{Greg Kriesel} 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 ^{Andrew Freeman (musician)} , the band embarked on a 3 week Japanese tour followed by a tour of South America. On December 13, 2008, The Offspring headlined the nineteenth annual KROQ ^KROQ-FM Almost Acoustic Christmas ^{KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas} . In an interview at the Almost Acoustic Christmas show, guitarist Noodles ^{Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman} stated that The Offspring would be taking a break for a month or two and promised a US ^{United States} tour to kick off in 2009. They toured North America on their "Shit is ***ed Up" tour from May through July with Dropkick Murphys, Alkaline Trio, Street Dogs, Pennywise ^{Pennywise (band)} , Shiny Toy Guns, Sum 41 and Frank Turner.


Next album and beyond (since 2009)

In a May 2009 interview with guitarist Noodles ^{Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman} stated that frontman Dexter Holland had been working with Bob Rock again in Hawaii for what would be the ninth Offspring album. Also in that interview, he said that the album may include some songs that never appeared on Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace. Frontman Dexter Holland told OC Register ^{The Orange County Register} in June 2009 that he wanted to try not to have the ninth Offspring record take as long as Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace.
In a June 2009 interview with Billboard ^{Billboard (magazine)} , Noodles stated that Holland and producer Bob Rock "kinda went over a couple of things that were left off the last record ^{Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace} " and "songs that were even left off Splinter ^{Splinter (The Offspring album)} or maybe even Conspiracy of One and kind of looked at some things with free eyes and see if there was anything there that can be worked on." He also stated that he would like to have the new album out in 2010, but the band wasn't likely to hit the studio until January. Asked in the interview if drummer Pete Parada will be involved in the recording process, Noodles replied, "He's great. We haven't actually done any real recording with him yet, but we're looking forward to that. He's a great drummer. He's got great ideas, just really on top of things. Nothing fazes him; we'll throw something at him, 'Hey, do this,' and, 'OK...' He's a really nice guy and just a real powerhouse drummer, so we're looking forward to working with him."

On February 15, 2010, it was announced on the Offspring's official website that they would headline two dates in Western Canada in June. The announcement also noted that a North American summer tour is in the cards, although no dates have been announced yet.

On February 18, 2010, The Offspring posted a link to the "Offspring Studio Cam" showcasing the writing and recording of their ninth album.

On March 11, 2010, The Offspring announced that they would be joining 311 ^{311 (band)} on their summer 2010 Unity Tour. The 19 date tour will be held in Amphitheaters around the U.S., more information will be coming soon about tour dates, locations and on sale dates. They also announced that they will play Japan's Summer Sonic Festival in August.While The Offspring is primarily considered a pop punk/punk rock group, their music contains strong elements of 1980s American hardcore punk, 1990s grunge, and the occasional ska. A signature style of The Offspring is their chorused "whoas", "heys", or "yeahs". NOFX has poked fun at them for this in their song "Whoa on the Whoas". Their lyrics cover a wide range of topics, like personal relationships, such as in their songs "She's Got Issues", "Self-Esteem" and "Spare Me the Details". And the degradation of the United States and society in general, with songs like "It'll Be a Long Time", "Americana" and, more recently "Stuff Is Messed Up". The lyrics generally reflect a sarcastic viewpoint, which can at times be offensive to some. This is acknowledged in the first track of their album "Ixnay on the Hombre", "Disclaimer". Like "Disclaimer", the first track of most of The Offsprings albums are an introduction of some sort, Smash's "Time to Relax", or Americana's "Welcome" are also examples of this.

The band cites their musical influences as, The Adolescents, Bad Religion, Channel 3 ^{Channel 3 (band)} , Dead Kennedys, Descendents, The Dickies, Ramones, *** Pistols, Social Distortion, TSOL, and The Vandals.
Current members

(left) has been one of the constant members in The Offspring.
*Dexter Holland / lead vocals ^{Lead vocalist} , rhythm guitar, piano (since 1984)
*Noodles ^{Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman} / lead guitar, backing vocals ^{Backing vocalist} (since 1985)
*Greg K ^{Greg Kriesel} / bass ^{Bass guitar} , backing vocals (since 1984)
*Pete Parada / drums ^{Drum kit} , percussion ^{Percussion instrument} (since 2007)


Former members

*Doug Thompson / lead vocals (1984)
*Jim Benton / drums, percussion (1984)
*James Lilja / drums, percussion, backing vocals (1984 / 1987)
*Ron Welty / drums, percussion, backing vocals (1987 / 2003)
*Adam "Atom" Willard ^{Adam Willard} / drums, percussion (2003 / 2007)


Session musicians

*Josh Freese / drums on Splinter ^{Splinter (The Offspring album)} (2003) and Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (2008)


Touring musicians

*Ronnie King / keyboard ^{Keyboard instrument} s, percussion, electronic ^{Electronic musical instrument} s (2003 / 2004)
*Chris "X-13" Higgins / percussion, backing vocals, keyboards (1994 / 2005)
*Warren Fitzgerald / rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2008)
*Andrew Freeman ^{Andrew Freeman (musician)} / rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2008)
*Scott Shiflett / bass, backing vocals (2008)
*Todd Morse / rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2009)


Timeline
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* The Offspring ^{The Offspring (album)} (1989)
* Ignition ^{Ignition (The Offspring album)} (1992)
* Smash ^{Smash (album)} (1994)
* Ixnay on the Hombre (1997)
* Americana ^{Americana (album)} (1998)
* Conspiracy of One (2000)
* Splinter ^{Splinter (The Offspring album)} (2003)
* Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (2008)
* TBA (2010)* List of awards and nominations received by The Offspring