THE OFFSPRING's BRYAN 'DEXTER' HOLLAND Loves Flying Single Pilot: 'It Doesn't Bother Me To Be By Myself'

In a new interview with Billboard, THE OFFSPRING singer Bryan "Dexter" Holland, who is a licensed pilot, confirmed that being a musician wasn't his first career choice. "I wanted to fly fighter jets when I was a kid," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "And I tried to get in the [United States] Air Force Academy, and I almost got in. They weren't gonna let me fly because I had to wear contact lenses or whatever. And so I decided to do something else, and I went to university instead, but I always wanted to fly. And so when I finally had the chance to later on, after the band took off, I started flying and I just get a big kick out of it. I love it. And I have a plane, and we take it on tour. But I will say I always take a pilot with me on tour. I don't wanna take all the credit, because on tour you should probably have some help in the flying department."

Asked if it is "scary being up there and having just this tube of metal in the sky that you're in control of," Holland replied: "Yeah, I can see how there's two things going on. On the one hand, it can seem exciting and adrenaline and maybe scary and 'I'm way up here. And what am I doing?' And on the other hand, it's very peaceful. It's very, almost meditative in a way, which is kind of weird. And I love flying single pilot. There's something about it. I love the getting away, and it doesn't bother me to be by myself."

Earlier this year, Dexter told Twin & Turbine about his interest in becoming a pilot: "I always knew that I was going to fly one day. I went to USC for undergrad and was focused on a medical research track. At that point in my twenties, that's what I was concerned about, and there was no way that I would be able to afford flying. Something had to happen before I could afford flight lessons. Luckily, my band took off in the '90s, and then I was able to pay for the lessons. I started taking them pretty much as soon as I could, which would have been in '95. I just loved it, and it's one of those things in life. For some people, it's golf, and for others, it's horseback riding or whatever. The first time that I got in an airplane, it felt completely natural, and I knew that I wanted to keep doing it."

THE OFFSPRING's new album, "Supercharged", is due out October 11 via Concord Records.

THE OFFSPRING's recent single "Make It All Right" hit No. 1 on both the Alternative Airplay chart (Mediabase) and the Active Rock chart (on Mediabase) as well as No. 1 on the Billboard Rock and Alternative Airplay chart.

"Make It All Right" marked the band's sixth No. 1 song on the Active Rock chart, following "I Choose" (1997),"Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)" (1998),"The Kids Aren't Alright" (1999),"Hit That" (2003) and "Gone Away" (1997),which remained on No. 1 on the chart for five consecutive weeks and the song that QUEEN's own Brian May performed with them earlier this year. It also marked the first time ever THE OFFSPRING have had a No. 1 at both Alternative and Active Rock radio in the band's history.

On the Alternative Airplay chart, "Make It All Right" marked the band's fourth No. 1 song, following "Come Out And Play (Keep 'Em Separated)" in 1994, "Hit That" in 2003, and recent Spotify Billions Club inductee "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" which hit No. 1 for 11 weeks straight in 2008. This only adding to the accolades the band has hit over the years with over 40 million records sold worldwide.

"You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" off THE OFFSPRING's 2008 "Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace" album was recently added to Spotify's Billions Club after the song reached one billion streams on the platform. Prior to this "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" had already been certified platinum in the United States, United Kingdom and gold in Spain, Poland, Italy, Germany, and Denmark. Upon release, the song hit No. 1 on the Alternative Airplay chart (formerly the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart) and remained at the top spot for 11 weeks — making it the longest #1 of any of the band's singles. The Billions Club, which first launched in 2020, lists all of the songs that have reached one Billion streams on Spotify. THE OFFSPRING's infamous song has now joined the list which features songs from peers and icons including AC/DC, FLEETWOOD MAC, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Whitney Houston, THE KILLERS and more.

Recently, THE OFFSPRING surprised the crowd at Open Air Gampel in Switzerland with none other than Yungblud. The alt rocker joined the band for a performance of their song "Self Esteem" off their album "Smash". Not only did Yungblud join the band onstage for the song, but he hyped up the crowd by jumping offstage and onto the barrier all while singing along.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the six-times-platinum "Smash" album and the collaboration with Yungblud is just one of many this year already. Previously the band broke the Internet when they were joined by Ed Sheeran to perform one of his favorite songs "Million Miles Away". Sheeran not only said he was a massive fan of the band's but also has a tattoo inspired by their album "Conspiracy Of One". Then at Starmus Festival, THE OFFSPRING were joined by music industry legend — QUEEN's own Brian May and The Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra for a performance of THE OFFSPRING's "Gone Away" and a cover of QUEEN's "Stone Cold Crazy".