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 (lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals), and Greg K. (bass, backing vocals). In 1987, Ron Welty  replaced James Lilja as the drummer for The Offspring, completing the band's most successful lineup that would last for 16 years. Their current drummer is Pete Parada, formerly of Face to Face 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, 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 Smash (1994) has sold over a million units.

Since the release of Smash, which is generally cited as the best-selling independent label album of all time, The Offspring has achieved commercial success over five albums, with singles such as "Come Out and Play" and "Self Esteem". The band's next three albums, Ixnay on the Hombre, Americana and Conspiracy of One, were also successful, with Ixnay on the Hombre and Conspiracy of One reaching platinum certification, and Americana achieving multi-platinum status. Longtime drummer Ron Welty left The Offspring in early 2003, and was replaced by Atom Willard. Later that year, the band released their next album, Splinter, to moderate sales and fairly warm reviews.

In 2005, The Offspring released a greatest hits 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 and spawned the hit singles "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" and "Hammerhead". The Offspring is currently taking a break from recording their ninth studio album, which is due for release sometime in 2010 or 2011.

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. Doug Thompson was added for vocals, and Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman, the school janitor, was welcomed into the band, allegedly because he was old enough to purchase alcohol for Holland and Kriesel, both of whom were under the legal drinking age. The band used Thompson's friend, Jim Benton, as their drummer. Thompson was eventually forced out of the band, while Benton left. This led to Holland taking over on vocals, and James Lilja joining as the drummer. The band changed their name to "The Offspring" in 1985.

In 1986, the band released their first single; the 7" "I'll Be Waiting/Blackball". They released the single on their self-made Black Label record company, named after the brand of beer. Lilja quit shortly after the release to pursue a medical career in gynecology, and was replaced by Ron Welty, who was only 16 years old at the time.

While The Offspring is primarily considered a pop punk or simply a punk rock group, their music contains strong elements of 1990s grunge, and the occasional ska. A signature style of The Offspring is their chorused "whoas", "heys", or "yeahs". NOFX  (who were labelmates with The Offspring from the early to mid 1990s) 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 "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 first track from their album Ixnay on the Hombre, "Disclaimer". Like "Disclaimer", the first track of most of The Offspring's albums are an introduction of some sort, Smash's "Time to Relax", Americana's "Welcome", Conspiracy of One's "Intro", and Splinter's "Neocon" are also examples of this.

The band cites their musical influences as, The Adolescents, Bad Religion, Channel 3, Dead Kennedys, Descendents, The Dickies, Metallica, Nirvana, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Social Distortion, TSOL, and The Vandals.