Getty Image / Per Ole Hagen/Redferns
Noodles and Dexter Holland from The Offspring (band) on stage in Oslo, Norway
Punk Rock band The Offspring, which has been together a lot longer than many people realize (since 1984), made a major announcement today. One of the band’s founding members, guitarist Kevin Wasserman aka ‘Noodles,’ is stepping away.
In the announcement, Noodles said a “sudden and fairly serious heath issue” has caused him to step away from live performances for hte time being. The Offspring currently has four concerts scheduled with the next one just three days away from now.
The Offspring Announces ‘Sudden and Fairly Serious Health Issue’ Sidelines Guitarist Noodles
On Instagram, just three days prior to the band performing at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, California, Noodles released this statement in collaboration with the rest of the band:
The Offspring guitarist Noodles releases statement regarding health issues
At 63-years-old, the guitarist from Garden Grove, California has been with the band since Day 1. In fact, he was a band member with fellow founder of The Offspring, singer Dexter Holland, when Holland recruited him to play in a new band. They recorded The Offspring’s debut album all the way back in 1989 after cutting a demo in 1988.
Many millennials associate The Offspring with the TRL era of MTV and the golden age of The Warped Tour, which rightfully so was probably when The Offspring was at it’s absolutely peak in popularity, but they band’s origin long predates the commercial success of tracks like ‘Pretty Fly (For a White Guy),’ ‘Why Don’t You Get a Job?,’ and ‘The Kids Aren’t Alright’ which were all MTV staples in the late 90s leading up to Y2K.
After The Offspring’s concert this weekend at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, they have dates scheduled at SEMA Fest in Las Vegas on November 6th, Corona Capital 2026 in Mexico City on November 21s, and a show at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on January 16th. The band will be without its founding guitarist ‘Noodles’ for those concerts.
Following the announcement, fans flooded the comments of The Offspring and Noodles’ post to offer support:
fans leave messages of support for Noodles the guitarist of The Offspring
On a lighter note, it is absolutely wild to think that ‘Self Esteem’ came out in 1994. This song is 32 years old!! Where did all the time go?!
‘Self Esteem’ by The Offspring is forever a straight-up millennial anthem. And we all wish Noodles a speedy recovery in whatever serious health issue he might be dealing with.