Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman, guitarist with The Offspring, announced on Wednesday 21 October that he is stepping away from live performances for a while to deal with a sudden health issue. He did not give details of his condition or a timescale for his return, and said the rest of the band will carry on performing without him.
“It is with deep sadness that I have to announce that I need to step away from live performances for a while to deal with a sudden and fairly serious health issue,” he wrote in a statement shared on the band’s social media. “The rest of the band has my back, is super supportive, and will keep rocking you all in my absence. I hope to be back on stage sooner rather than later. Until then, I will miss all of you with all of my heart.” He signed off: “Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts. I really appreciate it.”
The Offspring are due to play The Wiltern in Los Angeles on Saturday 24 October and SEMA Fest in Las Vegas on 6 November. On 21 November they co-headline a day of Mexico City’s Corona Capital festival at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez alongside Twenty One Pilots, and on 16 January 2027 they appear at iHeartRadio ALTer Ego at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California. No changes to those dates have been announced, and the band have not said who will stand in for Noodles.
Born in Los Angeles on 4 February 1963, Noodles joined The Offspring in 1985 after being recruited by Dexter Holland, and the pair are the only members to have played on every one of the band’s albums. In the group’s early days he worked as a caretaker at Earl Warren Elementary School in Garden Grove, Orange County, and he almost quit music shortly before ‘Smash’ (1994), until the success of ‘Come Out and Play’ persuaded him to stay. His nickname comes from his habit of noodling on guitar, and he has several signature models in Ibanez’s Talman range.
The Offspring formed in Garden Grove, California, in 1984 as Manic Subsidal and adopted their current name in 1986. ‘Smash’, released on independent label Epitaph, reached number four on the US Billboard 200 and sold more than 11 million copies worldwide, making it one of the biggest-selling independent albums of all time; the band’s total sales exceed 45 million records. The current line-up is completed by bassist Todd Morse, rhythm guitarist and keyboard player Jonah Nimoy and drummer Brandon Pertzborn. Morse joined in 2019 following the 2018 departure of bassist Greg K., while Nimoy, who had toured with the band since 2019, and Pertzborn became official members in 2023.
The guitarist has also kept busy outside the band, adding backing vocals to Mötley Crüe‘s 2024 EP ‘Cancelled’. The same year, The Offspring released ‘Supercharged’ on 11 October, their 11th studio album, through Concord Records, and took it on the road in 2026 with the ‘Supercharged Worldwide in ’26’ tour. In April 2026 the band announced they are working on new music with producer Bob Rock, and in June Dexter Holland guested on Electric Callboy‘s single ‘Let the Good Times Roll’.