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This pop punk trivia quiz has 50 free questions with answers and runs the whole history of the genre: the late-70s roots in Buzzcocks, the Ramones and the Descendents, the Lookout! and Epitaph years, the 1994 breakout of Dookie and Smash, the Blink-182 second wave with Enema of the State and the first punk album ever to debut at number one, the Warped Tour generation of Sum 41, Good Charlotte, New Found Glory, Simple Plan and Avril Lavigne, the emo-pop crossover of Fall Out Boy and Paramore, and the 2020s revival led by a former rapper and Travis Barker. The questions cover where the bands formed, how they got their names, who produced what, which records broke which chart, and the odd stories behind them: the mud fight at Woodstock '94, the album renamed after 9/11, the band that counted the days until Warped Tour and called themselves after the number, and the Grammy that Dookie won. It starts easy enough for anyone who owned a studded belt and gets hard enough for people who can name Blink-182's first drummer. Every answer was checked against a reference source and each question shows its citation once you have answered. No lyrics are quoted.
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Q 01Which Bolton band, formed in 1976 by Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto, laid the groundwork for pop punk?
Buzzcocks
Devoto left within a year to form Magazine. Their 1978 single 'Ever Fallen in Love' was written after half-watching Guys and Dolls in a guest-house TV room.
Q 02The Ramones all took the surname Ramone in tribute to a pseudonym once used by which musician?
Paul McCartney
He had called himself Paul Ramon in the Silver Beetles days. None of the four Ramones were related, and they played 2,263 shows in 22 years.
Q 03Which Milo Aukerman-fronted Manhattan Beach band, formed as a surf-punk act in 1977, is a key pop punk influence?
Descendents
Aukerman joined in 1979 and later split time between the band and a career as a biochemist, hence the album title Milo Goes to College.
Q 04In which small California town was Green Day formed in 1987?
Rodeo
Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt were 15. They played as Sweet Children before taking the Green Day name in 1989.
Q 05What was Green Day called before adopting the Green Day name in 1989?
Sweet Children
Their early records came out on the Berkeley indie Lookout!, and they cut their teeth at the 924 Gilman Street club.
Q 06Which Berkeley club was the hub of the Bay Area punk scene that produced Green Day?
924 Gilman Street
The all-ages, volunteer-run venue famously banned major-label bands, which meant Green Day could not play there after signing to Reprise.
Q 07Which drummer did Tré Cool replace in Green Day in 1990?
John Kiffmeyer
Cool joined before the second album, Kerplunk, and the band has been a power trio ever since.
Q 08Who produced Dookie, Green Day's 1994 major-label debut, beginning a long partnership with the band?
Rob Cavallo
It was recorded at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley in 1993. Some early fans branded the band sellouts for leaving Lookout!.
Q 09Roughly how many copies has Dookie shipped in the United States?
Over 20 million
Its singles were 'Longview', 'Basket Case', a re-recorded 'Welcome to Paradise' and 'When I Come Around'. It won the Grammy for Best Alternative Album in 1995.
Q 10What did Green Day famously start during their set at Woodstock '94?
A mud fight
Mike Dirnt lost teeth in the chaos when security mistook him for a fan. The band also played Lollapalooza that summer.
Q 11Green Day's 2004 rock opera American Idiot was adapted into what in 2010?
A Broadway musical
The cast recording later won the band a Grammy for Best Musical Show Album, one of five Grammys they have won.
Q 12Which band inducted Green Day into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015?
Fall Out Boy
It was Green Day's first year of eligibility. Their Grammy for 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' was for Record of the Year, not a rock category.
Q 13The Offspring's 1994 release Smash holds what sales distinction?
Best-selling album from an independent label
Q 21In which Ontario town was Sum 41 formed in 1996?
Ajax
Their debut All Killer No Filler arrived in 2001. The band split in March 2025 after a farewell tour and induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
Q 22How did Sum 41 come up with their name?
They counted 41 days from summer break to Warped Tour
Their biggest single, 'Fat Lip', topped the Billboard Modern Rock chart in 2001 and reached No. 8 in the UK.
Q 23Which Sum 41 single topped the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and remains their biggest hit?
Fat Lip
Released on Epitaph, it has sold over eleven million worldwide and was the label's first gold and platinum record. It peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200.
Q 14Under what name did The Offspring first form in Garden Grove, California, in 1984?
Manic Subsidal
Dexter Holland switched from drums to vocals and guitar after a riot at a Social Distortion show inspired them to start a band.
Q 15In which San Diego suburb was Blink-182 formed in 1992?
Poway
Their first two albums, Cheshire Cat and Dude Ranch, came out on Grilled Cheese with original drummer Scott Raynor. The band has sold 50 million albums.
Q 16Who was Blink-182's original drummer, before Travis Barker?
Scott Raynor
He played on Cheshire Cat (1995) and Dude Ranch (1997). Barker's first record with the band was Enema of the State.
Q 17Which producer became Blink-182's key creative partner starting with Enema of the State in 1999?
Jerry Finn
He also produced Sum 41's 'Fat Lip'. Enema of the State was released by MCA and its title is a pun on 'enemy of the state'.
Q 18Who is pictured in a nurse's uniform on the cover of Enema of the State?
Janine Lindemulder
The adult film actress's cover became one of the most recognisable images of the era. It was Travis Barker's first album with the band.
Q 19Which 2001 Blink-182 album became the first punk album ever to debut at No. 1 in the US?
Take Off Your Pants and Jacket
It sold 350,000 copies in its first week and over 14 million globally. The title is a pun the band was very proud of.
Q 20Which Alkaline Trio singer filled in for Tom DeLonge in Blink-182 from 2015 to 2022?
Matt Skiba
He recorded California (2016) and Nine (2019) with them. Mark Hoppus is the only member to have been in the band for its entire history.
It peaked at No. 66 on the Hot 100 and No. 8 in the UK. Their final album, Heaven :x: Hell, came out in March 2024.
Q 24Paramore formed in 2004 in which Tennessee town?
Franklin
Atlantic wanted Hayley Williams as a solo act; the compromise was signing the whole band to its subsidiary Fueled by Ramen.
Q 25Which 2007 Paramore album, with 'Misery Business' and 'Crushcrushcrush', made them a mainstream act?
Riot!
It went platinum and earned the band a Best New Artist Grammy nomination in 2008. Their 2013 self-titled record was their first US No. 1.
Q 26Fall Out Boy took their name from a character in which TV show?
The Simpsons
Fallout Boy is Radioactive Man's sidekick. The band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, in 2001 and put the name to a vote among friends.
Q 27In Fall Out Boy, how are the songwriting duties split?
Wentz writes words, Stump writes the tunes
That split produced 'Sugar, We're Goin Down' and 'Dance, Dance' on 2005's From Under the Cork Tree, which brought a Best New Artist Grammy nomination.
Q 28Which 2013 album ended Fall Out Boy's hiatus and became their second US No. 1?
Save Rock and Roll
They had gone quiet after a 2009 greatest-hits set. Its lead single 'My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)' reached the top 20.
Q 29Who conceived the Warped Tour, which first toured in 1995?
Kevin Lyman
He imagined it as an alternative-rock festival before it tilted to punk. Vans became title sponsor after the first year, and 2018 was billed as the final full run.
Q 30Which shoe brand became the Warped Tour's title sponsor after its first year?
Vans
The tour ran every summer from 1995 to 2019 and returned in 2025 for a 30th-anniversary edition.