The guitarist who has played on every Offspring studio album is leaving the stage for a while, and he hasn’t told fans what’s wrong.
Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman, 63, the Offspring’s lead guitarist, announced Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, that he is stepping away from live performances, in a statement posted to the band’s social media accounts.
“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. He gave no details about the condition and no timeline for a return.
Noodles played his last show Sunday, Oct. 18, in San Diego. “The rest of the band has my back,” he wrote. He said he hopes to return “sooner rather than later,” and closed by thanking fans for their support.
Four Gigs, No Replacement Named
The band is continuing to play during his absence, according to his statement, and it has not named a temporary replacement. Four gigs sat on the schedule in the first days after the announcement.
The group was booked into the Wiltern in Los Angeles on Saturday, Oct. 24, followed by SEMA Fest in Las Vegas on Nov. 6 and the Corona Capital 2026 festival in Mexico City on Nov. 21. Then comes a break. The Offspring return at the Kia Forum in Inglewood on Jan. 16, 2027, as part of iHeartRadio ALTer EGO 2027.
“We are all supportive of Noodles as he navigates this challenging time,” representatives for the group said in an emailed statement to the Los Angeles Times.
“Get Well Soon Brother”
Guitarist Joe Satriani wrote on the post: “Get well soon brother.” Garbage sent love, as did Simple Plan frontman Pierre Bouvier, who called Noodles a legend, and the Los Angeles radio station ALT 98.7 KYSR FM. Well wishes also arrived from Slightly Stoopid, The Early November and Sublime, and fans flooded the comments with messages of support.
The band has been on the road all year behind “Supercharged.” The main North American arena leg of the Supercharged Worldwide tour wrapped earlier in 2026 after a run through the U.S. and Canada, and the group played the Aftershock festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento on Oct. 1.
From Garden Grove to MTV
The Offspring formed in Garden Grove, in Orange County, in 1984, and Noodles joined the following year, shortly after singer and co-founder Dexter Holland helped launch the group. The band released its self-titled debut album in 1989.
“Smash” arrived in 1994 and carried “Come Out and Play” and “Self Esteem” out of the Southern California punk scene and onto mainstream radio. “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy),” “Why Don’t You Get a Job?” and “The Kids Aren’t Alright” made the band an MTV staple in the late 1990s. “Supercharged,” released in 2024, is the band’s 11th studio album, and the record is still being supported — now without him.
Ed Sheeran joined the band onstage at BottleRock Napa Valley on May 26, 2024, for “Million Miles Away,” a track from 2000’s “Conspiracy of One” that the group had not played live since 2016. Sheeran has the Offspring’s skull logo tattooed on him. Holland told the Napa crowd that Sheeran had said an Offspring record was the first CD he ever bought as a kid.
