Long Beach’s iconic ska-punks, Sublime, will reunite at Coachella this year with Bradley Nowell’s son Jakob taking the helm as frontman.
The festival lineup was announced Tuesday and fans quickly noted that the Sublime name was not followed by “with Rome” as it has been for the past 15 years. Shortly after the announcement, the band confirmed that the younger Nowell would be joining original drummer Bud Gaugh and bassist Eric Wilson for the desert festival as well as other dates this year.
“This has so many layers for me. On a spiritual level, my father passed away when he was 28, and I am 28 now. It’s an honor to carry on with our family’s name and legacy with Sublime,” Nowell said in the statement, adding that he has been a professional musician with his own projects for the past decade.
Nowell’s own project, Jakobs Castle, released “Catch Me” on Wednesday, the latest single from debut album “Enter: The Castle,” which is set to drop April 12.
“On a personal level, my Uncles Bud and Eric are meant to play these songs and the fans want to hear them,” Nowell continued. “I’m excited, nervous, thankful and humbled all at the same time to step into this role and start this new chapter. It feels like my big crazy family is finally back together and I couldn’t be more happy.”
The news comes a month after the trio performed a benefit show together at the Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles to a sold out crowd of just over 600 people.
The newly formed Sublime also announced it signed a new management deal with Regime Music Group co-founder Kevin Zinger and Vandals bassist Joe Escalante.
Bradley fronted Sublime until his death in 1996. Jakob was not even a year old at the time.
In 2009, Gaugh and Wilson joined up with Rome Ramirez to continue the Sublime legacy. After a legal dispute with Bradley’s estate, the group became officially known as Sublime with Rome in 2010.
Gaugh left the band at the end of 2011, saying that he regretted using the Sublime name for the project and apologizing to fans.
“I knew I would be playing music with Eric again at some point, that was never a doubt,” Gaugh said. “But to be playing music with Eric and Jakob, it’s very reminiscent of those early days in Brad’s dad’s garage in a surrealistic kinda way.”
Wilson and Ramirez continued putting out music and touring as Sublime with Rome. The group toured through 2023 and released the “Tangerine Skies EP” on Nov. 3. But on Dec. 18, one week after Nowell’s benefit show with the band, Ramirez announced his departure from the band.
There appears to be no bad blood with Ramirez commenting on the band’s Coachella announcement on Instagram, saying “You got this Jake!!”
“This is great because I haven’t had the opportunity to play with Bud Gaugh in over a decade,” Wilson said. “And to have Brad’s son playing our music is the closest thing possible to playing with my old buddy Brad.”