Dexter Holland

Dexter Holland is an American musician who sings, plays guitar, and writes most of the songs for the punk rock band the Offspring, which he co-founded. Born Bryan Keith Holland in Garden Grove, California, in 1965, he started a group called Manic Subsidal in 1984 with his friend Greg K., initially on drums. After James Lilja took over drums, Holland switched to vocals and guitar; Kevin Wasserman joined on guitar, and the band became the Offspring in 1986. A 1988 demo led to a deal with Nemesis Records, which put out their first album, The Offspring, in 1989. The band signed with Epitaph Records in 1991 and released Ignition in 1992 and Smash in 1994, the latter setting a world record for independent-label album sales. Holland also co-founded Nitro Records and ran it from 1994 until 2013, and later earned a PhD in molecular biology.