The Offspring Biography:

Noodles: guitar, vocals Pete Parada: drums Dexter Holland: vocals, guitar Greg K: bass

During 1984 in Orange County, California, four young men got together and formed a band, which later became "The Offspring." At Pacifica High School, Bryan (Dexter) Holland met up with Greg Krisel at a track meet at school. Dexter was on the cross-country team, and he also was class valedictorian. At this time, he got his life-long nickname, 'Dexter'. Dexter Holland came up with the idea of forming a punk band from his brother, who gave him a Rodney album. Holland and Krisel's first band, "Manic Subsidal," featured themselves and two other cross country teammates. In 1984, Holland and Krisel did not even own instruments, much less know how to play them. Krisel says, "Bryan and I both learned together, and he wasn't even playing chords at the time, so he'd play on one string, and I tried to do the same thing." Krisel also says, "By the summer Bryan and I would be playing songs. It took a while."

Greg K's house was often used as a hangout, where they did gigs for up to 20 people upstairs at his home. That fall, Dexter Holland began to study Molecular Biology at USC. Dexter wrote many songs, one of which was called, "Very Sarcastic," which the band recorded as a CD single, at a cheap studio. After a few months, their guitarist left, and they recruited Kevin Wasserman. He was an older Pacifica grad that worked as the school's janitor. Things were slow, but the band still continued to perform gigs at Greg's house on weekends.

In 1987, the band paid to release a 7-inch single. Unable to afford the quarter-per-copy that it cost to paste the front cover to the back, the band bought a case of beer and glue sticks and held a party for their friends. "Well", says Holland, "It took us two and a half years to get rid of the 1,000 copies we printed". In 1994, Dexter Holland and The Offspring made history. They did this by landing in the top five best-unheard songs with "Come Out and Play," from the album Smash. Smash went on to sell over eleven million copies worldwide.

The follow up to "Smash", "Ixnay On The Hombre", was another interesting punk album. The first single from "Ixnay on the Hombre" was a song entitled "All I Want," which did not do that well on the charts, although it still went to number nineteen. The second single, "Gone Away," expressed haunting, thoughtful, and creative lyrics for a lost love. "Ixnay On The Hombre," proved to punk/rock fans worldwide that The Offspring can still rock.

In 1998, The Offspring recorded "Americana." The first single, which Noodles describes as, "fast and pumping", is entitled "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)." The song was a success on the radio and on MTV. The follow-up "Why Don't You Get A Job", was another successful hit worldwide. Some people believe The Offspring were re-born, but many believe they never died! The Offspring finished the "Americana Tour," and went back in the studio to record a brand new CD.

In 2000, "Conspiracy of One," was released. "Original Prankster," the first single, shows Dexter's creative writing, wit and humour. As a promotion for the new album, The Offspring decided to give one-million dollars away to a lucky fan who was fortunate enough to downloaded the new single, "Original Prankster," in MP3 format. Following the Conspiracy of One Tour, the band took a three year hiatus, to relax, recoup, and recharge.

In 2003, The Offspring released "Splinter." "The album was entitled Splinter, as it splinters off in many musical directions," explained Dexter Holland. The Splinter Tour began in late November with new drummer Atom Willard; who recently replaced Ron Welty. Ron left The Offspring to peruse Steady Ground, his new band. The first single released off Splinter was "Hit That," which soared to number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Charts. Currently Splinter is gold in the United States, selling over 500,000 copies. "Can't Get My Head Around You," was the second single off Splinter. Joseph Kahn produced the music video using 200+ video cameras set in a spherical array, filming the band as they performed.

In 2005, The Offspring released a greatest hits package, which includes “14 songs you know.” The CD offers two new tracks, “Can’t Repeat” and a cover rendition of the Police song, “Next to You.” The album debuted at number eight on the Billboard Rock chart; the bands’ fifth top 10 album of their career. As well, The Offspring finally satisfied one of their musical goals by playing in the 2005 Warped Tour.

In 2008, The Offspring returned with "Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace;" produced by the legendary Bob Rock. The album was released on June 17th in Canada and the United States. The first single "Hammerhead" debuted at number five on the Billboard Rock Charts. The second single was entitled "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" which spent 10 weeks at number 1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Charts. Other single releases include "Kristy, Are You Doing Okay" and "Half-Truism".

Currently, The Offspring are in the studio with legendary producer Bob Rock to begin recording a follow-up to 2008's Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace. Watch the band record the new album here.