Longtime THE OFFSPRING drummer Pete Parada has publicly discussed his departure from the iconic punk rock band, after announcing in August 2021 that he was dropped from their tour for declining the COVID-19 vaccine due to medical concerns. In a recent interview on “The Culture War With Tim Pool,” Parada detailed the circumstances surrounding his exit from THE OFFSPRING.
According to Parada, the situation arose unexpectedly in June 2021, following months of collaboration with the band in Los Angeles during the spring. They had been working on promotional material and music videos for their new album, ‘Let The Bad Times Roll’, released in spring 2021. Pete described a harmonious working environment during this period, stating, “Everything was fine; no issues.” However, this changed abruptly when COVID protocols became a central issue.
Alt text: Pete Parada energetically drumming on stage during an Offspring concert, highlighting his passionate performance style.
Parada recounted receiving a phone call from THE OFFSPRING‘s manager, which he characterized as “the most unnecessarily abusive, threatening call I’ve ever received.” He said the manager’s aggressive demand was simply, “You need to do this,” referring to getting vaccinated. Pete explained his position, stating, “Well, you know, I talked to my doctor about it. I have a medical exemption.” However, he stated that his medical exemption was dismissed, and his concerns were disregarded.
“It wasn’t a secret that I was not lining up to do this,” Parada clarified, emphasizing that his stance on the vaccine was not hidden from the band. He anticipated a discussion with his bandmates, envisioning a conversation where he could express his feelings, medical history, and concerns. Pete believed previous discussions had suggested an ongoing dialogue, recalling, “It felt like we had opened a conversation that was gonna keep going.” Instead, he received what he describes as an “annihilation” phone call, making it clear that vaccination was mandatory for his continued involvement with THE OFFSPRING. “He made it very clear by the end of that conversation that I was to get the shot or I was out,” Pete stated, summarizing the ultimatum.
Pete, who identified himself as a “salaried” drummer rather than a full-fledged band member, further elaborated on his vaccine stance. He acknowledged his history of Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare autoimmune disorder. While recognizing that some might see this as a “legitimate excuse” for his exemption, Pete emphasized a broader principle: “I don’t feel there’s any reason to — if you don’t wanna get the vaccine, any reason is legitimate to me.” He highlighted that the rejection of his medical exemption demonstrated a lack of consideration for such exemptions in general.
Alt text: The Offspring band members Dexter Holland, Noodles, and Pete Parada performing live, showcasing their energetic stage presence and band dynamics.
For Parada, the most disheartening aspect of his departure was the breakdown of personal relationships within THE OFFSPRING. He reflected on years of shared experiences, stating, “‘Cause we had a lot of good years together. We had a great time. We traveled the world. Our kids grew up together. Our wives were really close.” The sudden severing of these bonds was particularly painful, not just for him but for his family as well. Explaining the situation to his children and the abrupt end to these long-standing relationships was difficult. Pete expressed the strangeness of the situation, “just to never hear from anybody again, over one issue… [An issue] that’s not an issue anymore, but at the time, apparently, it was the only issue.”
Regarding THE OFFSPRING‘s rationale for his dismissal, Pete recalled being told, “‘Well, there’s venues that aren’t gonna let you in.’ And I’m, like, ‘What venues?’ ‘We don’t know yet.’ ‘Well, there’s borders you can’t cross.’ ‘What borders?’ ‘We don’t know yet.'” He questioned the preemptive nature of the decision, especially considering that the 2021 tour dates were primarily in the U.S., where he believed his medical exemption would have been sufficient. Pete even mentioned other bands at the same festivals expressing confusion over his absence, noting that they were unvaccinated and still able to perform.
Parada acknowledged the industry-wide pressure to resume work, stating, “I think the whole industry, though, went into this mode of everyone wanting to get back to work. And I don’t begrudge anybody needing to get back to work and make money. But the fact that everybody was performing caution was alarming.”
Alt text: Dexter Holland, lead singer of The Offspring, engaged in a conversation with Tom Power of CBC Radio One’s “Q”, discussing band-related topics.
In May 2021, THE OFFSPRING singer Bryan “Dexter” Holland discussed the band’s proactive stance on COVID-19 vaccination. In an interview with Tom Power of CBC Radio One‘s “Q”, Holland explained their decision to encourage vaccination by repurposing their hit song “Come Out And Play” with the line “you gotta go get vaccinated.” This revised version was shared on THE OFFSPRING‘s Instagram in March 2021.
Holland, who holds a Ph.D. in molecular biology, stated, “I went to school for this. I feel like I have a little bit of a background in it, and I do think it’s a good idea [to get the COVID-19 vaccine].” He emphasized the necessity of vaccination for a return to normalcy, particularly for the live music industry. “And whatever you think about all this, the truth is that we’re not gonna get back to normal until people get vaccinated; that’s just the reality of it. So why don’t we just get this done with so that we can all go to shows again and do the things that we love to do.”
Addressing the mixed fan reception to the reworked song, Dexter admitted surprise at the level of negative reactions. He acknowledged the divisiveness surrounding the issue, stating, “There were a lot of people that were surprisingly kind of angry about it. But that’s where we’re at — we are in maybe the most divisive period in our nation’s history, if not the world’s history, and this is kind of par for the course.”
Holland expressed frustration with vaccine hesitancy from a scientific perspective, but also acknowledged public uncertainty and misinformation. “On a scientific or factual level, it’s frustrating [to see people who are vaccine hesitant],” he said. “On a personal level, I understand. People are unsure about certain things. And there could still be some sort of crazy side effect that we don’t know about. I think that’s unlikely, given how many millions of doses have been administered. But besides that, there’s all this conflicting information on the Internet. Again, another sign of our times where people are getting just bombarded with all this conflicting information, and it’s hard to know what to do sometimes.”
Holland clarified that the rapid vaccine development was built upon years of prior research into mRNA vaccine technology, which was being developed for flu vaccines. “With the vaccine, I know there’s a lot of belief out there that, ‘Well, these were developed too quickly,'” he stated. “I think part of the story that’s not out there is that there’s a whole platform of technology that’s been developed over the last five years or so that was happening — the mRNA vaccines. They were working on this for flu vaccines over the last five — really, almost 10 years — but the last five years. So this great technology happened to be right on deck when this happened. And that’s what allowed it to be quickly adapted to the coronavirus. So it’s not as quick as everyone thinks.”
THE OFFSPRING‘s latest album, “Let The Bad Times Roll”, produced by Bob Rock, was released in April 2021. It was the follow-up to their 2012 album “Days Go By”.
