Tim Armstrong

One of the key figures of American punk rock in the 1990s and onward, Tim Armstrong is best known as the singer and guitarist with the band Rancid, which he formed in 1991 after the dissolution of the influential ska-punk group Operation Ivy. Rancid's vintage, Clash-inspired sound entered the mainstream in 1995 with the release of the platinum-selling ...And Out Come the Wolves. In addition to his work with Rancid, who released their ninth long-player, Trouble Maker, in 2017, Armstrong fronts the hip-hop/punk supergroup Transplants, and in 2007 he issued his debut solo LP, A Poet's Life. He began releasing stripped-down acoustic songs under the moniker Tim Timebomb in 2012. Armstrong has also found success writing for other artists including P!ink, Joe Walsh, and Jimmy Cliff, with whom he earned a Grammy Award in 2012 for Best Reggae Album.

Born in Oakland, California, in the fall of 1966, Armstrong was friends since childhood with Matt Freeman, and as teenagers the two became converts to punk rock after seeing the Clash open for the Who in Oakland in 1982. Armstrong and Freeman were also deeply influenced by the British ska revival of the '80s, which had a major impact in California, and in 1987 they formed the influential ska punk band Operation Ivy. While the group lasted a bit less than two years and only released one single and one album, their revved-up fusion of punk and Jamaican sounds made them kings at Northern California's fabled all-aged club 924 Gilman Street. Internal friction caused Operation Ivy to break up in 1989, and an attempt by Armstrong and Freeman to put together a new band, Downfall, fell apart after a mere three shows in late 1989. Armstrong developed a serious drinking problem, while Freeman started playing bass for veteran anarchist punks MDC. But in 1991, a newly sober Armstrong and his friend Freeman gave launching a band another try, recruiting drummer Brett Reed and later guitarist Lars Frederiksen to form Rancid.

While Rancid's 1993 debut album, released by California indie-punk label Epitaph Records, won little notice outside the Bay Area, their second LP, 1994's Let's Go, earned them a massive reputation in punk circles, especially after they were accorded "next big thing" status by A&R men following the commercial breakthrough of their Epitaph labelmates the Offspring. However, to the surprise of many, Rancid turned down seven-figure offers from several major labels in favor of the free creative atmosphere at Epitaph, and their next two albums, 1995's ...And Out Come the Wolves and 1998's Life Won't Wait, were both major commercial and critical successes.

While Rancid continued to write and record material at their own pace, several of the members began working on solo projects. Armstrong helped Frederiksen with his band Lars Frederiksen & the Bastards, while also forming the hip-hop-influenced group Transplants with Rob Aston of Expensive Tastes and Travis Barker of blink-182. They released their self-titled debut in 2002, and a second LP, Haunted Cities, in 2005, with a "chopped and screwed" remix edition appearing a few months later.

Both of Frederiksen's albums with the Bastards and the first Transplants album were released by Hellcat Records, a label launched by Armstrong in 1997 (and distributed by Epitaph), which also released material by Joe Strummer, the Dropkick Murphys, the Slackers, Tiger Army, and Hepcat. In 2003, Armstrong surprised more than a few of his fans by collaborating with pop star Pink on her third album, Try This; he co-wrote eight songs on the record, as well as handling some of the production duties and contributing guitar, keyboards, and backing vocals. In May 2007, Armstrong released his first solo album, a lively but low-key set of old-school ska- and rock steady-influenced originals called A Poet's Life, recorded with California ska outfit the Aggrolites.

In 2011, Armstrong began working with reggae great Jimmy Cliff. The resulting Rebirth, which Armstrong produced and co-wrote, took home the Best Reggae Album trophy at the 2013 Grammy Awards. The year prior saw Armstrong launch a side project under the name Tim Timebomb, and he begin releasing an ongoing cascade of downloadable singles -- a blend of original tracks, covers, and reworkings of his previous songs -- that would eventually number in the hundreds. In 2017, Transplants released the EP Take Cover, Rancid issued their ninth full-length effort, Trouble Maker, and Armstrong teamed up with Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong (no relation), Tim's nephew Rey Armstrong, and Billie Joe's son Joey Armstrong and formed the Armstrongs, who released the debut single "If There Was Ever a Time" later that year. ~ Mark Deming & James Christopher Monger, Rovi