Bradley James Nowell was born on February 22nd, 1968 in Long Beach, California to Jim and Nancy Nowell. Raised in the neighborhood of Belmont Shore and activiely partcipated in surfing and sailing as a child. After his parent's divorce at the age of twelve, Nowell moved in with his father and was introduced to raggae by his father.
At the age of thirteen, Nowell created his first band, Hogan's Heros, with his next door neighbor and future bassist of Sublime, Eric Wilson. Both members went off to college, but in 1995 Nowell dropped out of college one semester shy of his degree stating, "I have all the hard classes left...I doubt I'll ever go back." After returning from college, Nowell, Wilson, and newly founded Bud Gaugh, created Sublime.