The Offspring

The band's longest-serving drummer was Ron Welty, who replaced original drummer James Lilja in 1987 and stayed for 16 years. Welty was replaced by Adam "Atom" Willard in 2003, who was replaced four years later by Pete Parada, who remained until he was fired from the band in 2021 after his doctor recommended against the COVID-19 vaccine. He was officially replaced two years later by Pertzborn.^[8][9] Gregory "Greg K." Kriesel (one of the Offspring's co-founders) was the band's bassist until he was fired in 2018;^[10] this left Holland as the sole remaining original member. Kriesel was replaced by Todd Morse of H₂O, who had been the Offspring's touring guitarist since 2009.^[11]


After achieving a local following with their early releases, including their 1989 self-titled debut album and the vinyl-only EP Baghdad (1991), the Offspring signed with independent label Epitaph Records and released two albums: Ignition (1992) and Smash (1994). Smash, which contained the band's first major hit "Come Out and Play", is one of the best-selling albums released on an independent record label, selling over 11 million copies worldwide and helping to propel punk rock into the mainstream.^{[12][13][14][15]} The success of Smash attracted attention from major labels including Columbia Records, with whom the Offspring signed in 1996; their first album for the label, Ixnay on the Hombre (1997), did not match its predecessor's success, but received favorable reviews and gold and platinum RIAA certifications.^[13] The band's fifth album Americana (1998) regained their previous level of popularity, obtaining support from MTV and radio and selling over five million units in the US.^[13][14][15] The Offspring has since released five more albums: Conspiracy of One (2000), Splinter (2003), Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (2008), Days Go By (2012) and Let the Bad Times Roll (2021).

Style and influences

The Offspring has been labeled primarily as punk rock,^{[124][125][126][127][128][129][130]} and punk subgenres including hardcore punk,^[124][131] melodic hardcore,^[132] pop-punk,^{[133][134][135]} and skate punk.^{[132][136][137][138]} They have also been labeled as alternative rock.^[139][140] A signature style of the Offspring are their chorused "whoas", "heys", or "yeahs". The band's former labelmates NOFX poked fun at them for this in their song "Whoa on the Whoas". Several tracks also incorporate elements of Eastern music, which can be heard on the likes of "Tehran", "Me & My Old Lady", "Pay the Man", "Dividing By Zero", and the verse hook from "Come Out and Play". 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, politics, and society in general with songs like "It'll Be a Long Time", "Americana" and "Stuff Is Messed Up". The lyrics generally reflect a sarcastic viewpoint, which, along with the language, can be offensive to some. This is acknowledged in the opening track from their album Ixnay on the Hombre, "Disclaimer", which is sarcastic itself. Like "Disclaimer", the first track of most of the Offspring's albums are an introduction of some sort; "Time to Relax" (from Smash), "Welcome" (from Americana), "Intro" (from Conspiracy of One), and "Neocon" (from Splinter) are also examples of this.


The Offspring has cited various punk bands as influences, including the Dickies, the Sex Pistols, the Misfits, T.S.O.L., Agent Orange, the Adolescents, the Ramones, the Clash, the Dead Kennedys,^{[141][142][143][144][145]} Bad Religion,^[146] the Circle Jerks,^[147] the Descendents,^[148] GBH,^[149] Suicidal Tendencies,^{[150][151][152]} and the Vandals.^[153] The band's other influences and inspirations are Creedence Clearwater Revival, Kiss, Led Zeppelin, new wave acts the B-52s, the Cars and Devo, and British Invasion groups, including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Who.^[145]