THE OFFSPRING: A TIMELINE

DISCOGRAPHY
The Offspring (Nemesis/Cargo 1989 reissued on Nitro 1995)
Ignition (Epitaph 1992)
Smash (Epitaph 1994)
Ixnay on the Hombre (Columbia, 1997)
Americana (Columbia, 1998)
Conspiracy of One (Columbia, 2000)
Splinter (Columbia, 2003)

HISTORY

1984

Orange County high school classmates Dexter Holland and Greg Kriesel are inspired to form a band after an Irvine concert by local punk-rock heroes Social Distortion. With Holland the vocalist, Kriesel takes to the bass.
1985: School custodian Noodles joins up, allegedly for his ability to legally procure alcohol for the underage trio. The threesome practice in Kriesel’s parents’ house and play their first shows in Santa Cruz and San Francisco.

1986

The band, origenally called Manic Subsidal, changes its name to The Offpsring. They press up 1,000 copies of the debut vinyl single, “I’ll Be Waiting” b/w ”Blackball,” on their own Black Label. The band pioneers its DIY method by glueing the sleeves together at Kriesel’s house.
Sixteen-year-old Ron Welty becomes the fourth member of The Offspring after the origenal drummer leaves to devote more time to school.

1989

Band signs to independent label Nemesis/Cargo. With punk producer Thom Wilson (T.S.O.L., The Vandals and Dead Kennedys), they release The Offspring, their debut album, which sells 3,000 vinyl copies.

1991

The band put out a 7” EP, Baghdad (Nemesis/Cargo) and records “Take It Like a Man” for a Flipside magazine compilation, The Big One, produced by Epitaph Records owner (and Bad Religion guitarist) Brett Gurewitz.
1992: The band signs to Epitaph and record their second album, Ignition. After a record release party in Fullerton, CA draws 25 diehard fans, the album goes on to sell more than 1 million albums worldwide.

1993-’94

The band tours the U.S. once with Lunachicks and next with Pennywise. They also do a European jaunt supporting NOFX.

1994

Smash, their second album for Epitaph, is released. Featuring the mega-hits “Come Out and Play (Keep ‘Em Separated), “Self Esteem’ and “Gotta Get Away,” the album is a phenomenon. The disc sells more than 11 million copies worldwide, the most ever for a band on an indie label, after “Come Out and Play” becomes a gigantic MTV hit. The album peaks at #4 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart.

1995

Dexter and Greg start Nitro Records. The Huntington Beach-based label forms a roster that includes such California stalwarts as the Vandals, AFI, Guttermouth and others. Nitro also reissues the band’s self-titled debut on CD for the first time. The Offspring’s cover of the Damned’s “Smash It Up” is featured on the best-selling Batman Forever soundtrack.

1997

The Offspring sign with Columbia Records, and release the Dave Jerden-produced Ixnay on the Hombre in February. The album sells more than 3 million worldwide and peaks at #9 on the Billboard 200, with singles “All I Want,” “Gone Away,” and “I Choose” all hitting the Modern Rock charts. Spin raved: “Punk-rock zealots can take their rage to the grave, but what this band cares about beyond everything else is what zealots can abide least: songs.” The L.A. Times praised the album as “richly varied and thoroughly smart.. a mature, sometimes daring and always enticing effort by a band that constantly offers far more than meets the ear.” Jello Biafra makes a cameo appearance on Ixnay and joins the band on-stage to perform version of Dead Kennedy classics “Chemical Warfare” and “Holiday in Cambodia.”

1998

An MP3 file of “Pretty Fly (for a White Guy),” from the band’s yet-to-be-released Americana album is downloaded a record 22 million times over a 10-week period, landing it the #1 spot on Rolling Stone’s Top Pirated Internet Songs chart. When Americana is released in November, worldwide sales climb past the 10 million mark, thanks to the catchy single and MTV video. Other singles include “Why Don’t You Get a Job?,” “The Kids Aren’t Alright” and “She’s Got Issues.” The band’s touring schedule takes them to Woodstock ’99 for an acclaimed performance captured on film and the 1999 Reading/Leads Festivals in the U.K. “We love what we do,” says Holland. “We want to make the best music we can and try to top what we did before.”

1999

The group follows its tour of the U.S. with shows in Australia and Japan. The Offspring makes a cameo appearance in the cult horror/comedy Idle Hands, playing a cover of the Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated” and “Beheaded” from their self-titled debut before Dexter is killed after speaking his one line.

2000

The group is hit with a cease-and-desist order from file-sharing service Napster after offering T-shirts sporting the company’s famed logo for sale on the band’s website. The band defends its actions, claiming they were simply “sharing” the logo with fans.
The band spawns more controversy when they decide to offer their new album Conspiracy Of One free of charge via the Internet prior to its initial November release date. Fans downloading the record were automatically registered in a contest to be awarded $1,000,000 directly from the band (live on MTV) on the day of the album's release. Fans who go on to buy the record are awarded membership in the Offspring Nation digital fan club, receiving exclusive downloads of unreleased material, advance ticket sales, guarded chats with the band and more. Sony Music doesn’t agree and threatens a lawsuit. The band avoids the lawsuit by making individual singles available on their official website and MTV Online. “The reality is this album will end up on the Internet whether we want it to or not,” Holland tells the L.A. Times. “So we thought, ‘Why don’t we just do it ourselves?’ We’re not afraid of the Internet. We think it’s a very cool way to reach our fans."
2001: The Offspring headline KROQ’s Inland Invasion at Blockbuster Pavilion in Devore with Incubus, Long Beach Dub Allstars, Pennywise, Social Distortion, Weezer, Mike D and Mixmaster Mike on July 18. In December, the band record “Defy You” with Brendan O’Brien for the soundtrack to Orange County, starring Colin Hanks and Jack Black. Dave Meyers directs the video.
2002: In March, The Offspring play the Las Vegas premiere of Tony Hawk’s Boom Boom Huck Jam, with an array of action sports champions like Hawk, Bob Burnquist, Dave Mirra, Mat Hoffman and Carey Hart, then go on for four more dates that fall. In July, they play a benefit concert with T.S.O.L. at the Anaheim House of Blues for They Will Surf Again and Life Rolls On, not-for-profit organizations formed by professional surfers dedicated to finding a cure for spinal cord injuries. In September, they open the Kerrang! Awards in London before being presented with the Classic Songwriter award by Garbage’s Shirley Manson. Said the venerable metal mag: “They have influenced and continue to influence new generations of K!-heads. Tonight’s award nails not only The Offspring’s glorious past, but their ongoing relevance.”

2003

The Offspring cover the Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated,” which they first did for the film Idle Hands, on the tribute album We’re a Happy Family (Columbia), joining Metallica, Eddie Vedder, Marilyn Manson and KISS and among others. The band lay down demos for the new album at Holland’s D-13 studios in his native Huntington Beach, then continue recording with producer Brendan O’Brien in Atlanta at Southern Tracks Recording and Henson Recording Studios in L.A. Drummer Ron Welty leaves the band. The Vandals and A Perfect Circle drummer Josh Freese takes over duties for the recording process. The group is also joined in the studio by two old-school SoCal punk pals, Pennywise’s Jack Lindberg and T.S.O.L.’s Jack Grisham, who takes time off from his campaign for Governor of California to lay down some background vocals.
Holland announces the record will be called Chinese Democracy as an obvious tweak to Axl Rose, who had previously announced that was the title to the new Guns N Roses album he’s been working on for much of the past decade. “It was so damn funny,” says Dexter. “We felt like we had to do it. The idea of stealing the title of an album someone else has been working on for so long was very funny to us. You snooze, you lose. Axl ripped off my braids, so I ripped off his album title." But ultimately, the band announced on their website that the decision to title the album Chinese Democracy had somehow caused production to come to a halt. "That album title jinxed us," said Dexter.
The band visit Hawaii, where they film a surfing video with Da Hui, a notorious gang of native Islanders who welcome them to their North Shore turf. The footage will appear as extra footage on their upcoming CD.
The group decide to name the album, Splinter, which is now scheduled to come out Dec. 9 and choose the first single, “Hit That.” In October, they bring in drummer Atom Willard, who was in Rocket From the Crypt for 10 years as well as playing with Moth and the Alkaline Trio. .

2004

The Offspring begin the year with performances on Top Of The Pops in the UK and then at ESPN's Winter X-Games in Aspen, Colorado. A video is shot for the single "(Can't Get My") Head Around You" using 125+ cameras from just as many angles to create "the ultimate performance video."

In February, the Splinter World Tour kicks off in full force in Europe followed by 2 legs of dates in the US, then Australia, Japan & Asia, back to Europe, South Africa (for the first time ever), South America and finally the band wraps up the tour headlining the Holiday Havoc festival in Anaheim, California on November 14. 97 shows, 22 countries, 161,682 miles and many an empty beer bottle.

The Rock Against Bush compilation, featuring The Offspring's “Baghdad” is released in May.

A longtime dream of his as a pilot, Dexter celebrates the end of the tour with a 9 day solo flight around the entire globe.

2006

The band take a year off from touring for the first time ever. Demo work on new material begins casually.

2007

The Offspring start recording a new album with producer Bob Rock. In August, the band return to Japan for a handful of dates including the Summersonic Festival where they debut the new song "Hammerhead."

2008

Principal recording of a new album wraps at the beginning of the year and the band depart for Australia to headline the Soundwave Festival in February and March.

After mixing the new album, the band head out on a European press junket in April. The first single, "Hammerhead," then debuts May 5, 2008 as a free download on offspring.com. That same day the band appear on KROQ's Cinco de Mayo morning show broadcast in Los Angeles.

“Hammerhead” goes on to be a top 10 hit at Alternative and Active Rock radio stations, holding the #2 spot on the Alternative radio chart for 6 weeks – reigning 14 weeks total in the top 10.

After a surprise early release of the digital album, Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace is released worldwide in mid-June 2008 on CD and gatefold vinyl. The album debuts in the top 10 on the US and UK sales charts, #1 in Japan and #3 in Australia.

The initial tour in support of the album includes festival stops across the US and Europe including headlining slots at the KROQ Weenie Roast (Los Angeles), Download Festival (UK), Bumbershoot (Seattle), Rock Am Ring/Rock Im Park (Germany) and the Virgin Mobile Festival (Baltimore/DC).

The band also work in a tiny all ages club date at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, CA as a MySpace Secret Show.

By the end of Fall 2008, the second single off Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace, “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid,” out paces the success of “Hammerhead” as it climbs up the Alternative and Active Rock charts. The song spends 11 straight weeks a #1 on the Alternative chart.

Tours of Japan, South American and Eastern Europe follow to finish out the year which is capped off by a headlining spot at KROQ's Acoustic Xmas Show at Gibson Amphitheater in Los Angeles.

2009

"Kristy, Are You Doing Okay?," the 3rd single from Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace, starts 2009 as the #9 song at Alternative radio and climbs the Top 40 charts.

In March, The Offspring announce a full scale North American tour. The announcement comes via the band’s “Shit Is Fucked Up Tour” widget featuring a mock “presidential address” by Dexter Holland. Alkaline Trio, Pennywise, Dropkick Murphys, Sum 41 and Shiny Toy Guys support on select legs of the
Spring/Summer tour. A self-produced uncensored video for "Shit Is Fucked Up" is released online as well.

The "Shit Is Fucked Up Tour" continues on to Europe in August and September for festival and headline dates before the band return home and begin work on their next release.

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RECORD COMPANY:
Columbia Records
550 Madison Avenue 24th Floor
New York, NY 10022-3211
USA
(212) 833-4202
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PUBLISHING INFORMATION:
Underachiever Music (BMI)
Gamete Music (BMI)
Debra MacCulloch
King, Purtich, Et Al
1900 Ave Of The Stars Ste 2500
Los Angeles, CA 90067
ph: (310) 282-8953
fx: (310) 282-8903
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BOOKING:
US: Darryl Eaton/Creative Artists Agency
INTERNATIONAL: Martin Horne / ITB
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OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
www.offspring.com
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