The Offspring’s Dexter Holland Explains Path from Rocker to Scientist: ‘Balance’ Is ‘Important’

Though Holland started the Ph.D. program at USC in the 1990s, the timing wasn’t quite right, and when The Offspring blew up, he had to choose between pursuing a career in music and finishing his studies.

“We got a manager and I said, ‘Is there any way I can do school and the band?’ And he said, ‘No way. This is the time. If you want to go for it, you got to go for it,'” he said. “We were on MTV, we were in Buzz Bin, and all that stuff. I had to choose.”

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