10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Offspring

25 September 2025

Next Saturday, September 27, the doors of the Olimpic open to welcome two legendary punk-rock bands from the 90s and 2000s: The Offspring and Simple Plan. Sold out! We’re revving up for a truly explosive night with some band trivia you might not have known.

The Offspring

  1. A peculiar beginning: the band was born from a school project between Dexter Holland and Greg K, with the school janitor, Kevin John Wasserman, who would become their guitarist, Noodles.
  2. Name change: their first name was indeed Manic Subsidal before becoming The Offspring.
  3. PhD in biology: Dexter (Bryan) Holland completed a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology in May 2017. + info: Rolling Stone — dexter holland finishes Ph.D.
  4. Digital giveaway attempt: for the album Conspiracy of One (2000) they planned to offer free downloads and a $1 million giveaway; the label pressured them and the initiative was canceled. + info: ABC News — Offspring Album Download Axed (2000).
  5. A lawsuit changed their album name: their album Splinter was going to be called Chinese Democracy (like the Guns N’ Roses album), but Axl Rose sued them and they had to change it.
  6. The sample from “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)”: the vocals in “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)” use the same sample as “Rock of Ages” by Def Leppard.
  7. Is the bassist a lawyer?: bassist Greg Kriesel is a lawyer by training, although he never practiced.
  8. Their debut album and CD releases: the band’s first album, titled The Offspring, was not released on CD until 1995, two years after the vinyl and cassette formats were created.
  9. Punk revival in the 90s: The Offspring, along with bands like Green Day and Rancid, are often credited with bringing mainstream attention back to punk in the mid-to-late 90s.
  10. Americana and mass punk accessibility: their album Americana (1998) established a sound that made certain elements of punk/pop-punk more accessible to a wider audience; the album and singles like “Pretty Fly” were key in that transition.

And you? Will you be part of this brutal night of punk-rock?