NEWS
A former drummer of The Offspring has spoken out on getting fired from band due to refusing the COVID vaccine.
In 2021, Pete Parada was dropped from the punk rock band, claiming it was “decided that I am unsafe to be around, in the studio and on tour”.
The drummer had said he decided not to get vaccinated after consulting with his doctor, who advised him “not to get a shot at this time” given his personal medical history of Guillain-Barre syndrome as a child, along with “the side-effect profile of these jabs”.
Now, in an interview with podcast Try That In A Small Town, Parada sat down to discuss his exit from the band. He revealed that, despite declaring his doctor’s advice, the band did not accept the exemption – specifically, the band’s manager.
“He was new with the band. He’d only been with them since Covid hit. So I didn’t have a lot of history with this guy,” Parada said. “He chose to come at me like a flamethrower. I’ve gotten crappy phone calls before, this was the most abusive and threatening call I’ve ever had in my entire career.”
Parada claimed that the manager told him that he doesn’t “care about your medical exemption”, and that he was “just yelling” and cutting him off.
“He made it clear that I was either to get vaccinated or I’d be replaced,” he added. “The phone call was so shocking.” Watch the interview below.
Parada then explained that he wrote to “the two guys in the band that were my boss”, presumably long-time members Dexter Holland and Noodles.
“I tried to talk to them about him and I said, ‘You might fire me over this but you should know, this guy is not representing you well and if he’s treating me like this, he’s treating your crew even worse’”, he claimed.
“I was told, ‘That’s not the concern right now, he’s not the concern, your refusal to do this is the concern.’”
“So things deteriorated pretty rapidly after that and less than a week later I found all communication stopped. I had a flight and a hotel and stuff on hold to go to rehearsal, and a week later, I checked my Southwest app and that’s how I found out I was replaced because my flight was canceled.” NME has reached out to the band’s management for comment.
The band are set to tour Europe later this year in support of their 11th and most recent studio album, ‘Supercharged’, which was released last October.
The tour will kick off in Cardiff on November 10 ahead of further performances at London’s O2, Newcastle’s Utilita Arena, Manchester’s AO Arena, and Glasgow’s OVO Hydro. Simple Plan are set to support the group across the run.
Sharleen Spiteri joined BBC Radio 2’s The Sara Cox Breakfast Show ahead of Texas taking the stage to launch the main live music programme at Radio 2 in the Park in Stirling.
Checking in from rehearsals, the Texas frontwoman spoke about getting ready for the band’s opening performance at City Park. Radio 2’s annual flagship festival takes place there from 11 to 13 September 2026. "I’m match fit because I’ve had a couple of days’ rehearsals," Spiteri said. "We’re kicking the whole weekend off, which we’re very much looking forward to, so everybody’s got to get ready to party."
Before the live acts take over, Friday’s DJ Pre-Party gets the weekend started with Radio 2 favourites Sara Cox, DJ Spoony, Gary Davies, Michelle Visage, and Rylan behind the decks.
Jo Whiley helped set the mood with a special programme from Stirling’s Tolbooth venue. Working with BBC Introducing Scotland, the broadcast put the spotlight on Scotland’s emerging music scene through performances and conversations with Fright Years, Alice Faye, and James Emmanuel.
Fright Years, a four member band from Edinburgh, played "Never Been Wrong" and offered their take on Simple Minds’ "Waterfront." Glasgow singer and songwriter Alice Faye, the BBC Introducing in Scotland 2026 winner, paired "Some Brief Encounter" with a rendition of Lulu’s arrangement of "I Started a Joke." James Emmanuel, who was born in Nigeria and now lives in Edinburgh, sang "Brothers & Sisters" before taking on Chaka Khan’s "I’m Every Woman."
"We’re all about celebrating BBC Introducing and all the music that’s come out of Scotland," Whiley told listeners. "It's about celebrating the local music scene and the incredibly important work that BBC Introducing does to support independent, up-and-coming artists."
Joining the conversation were Stephanie Cheape, presenter of BBC Introducing in Scotland, Tara McLoughlin, venue manager for Stirling Council, and student radio presenters representing the University of Stirling’s Air3 Radio.
Listeners can catch the complete interviews and live performances from the weekend’s programmes on BBC Sounds.
