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Third wave ska is a music genre derived from the fusion of Jamaican ska with various American and British styles of music, such as 2 Tone, rock music, punk rock, pop punk, hardcore and jazz. The term third wave ska has also been used to refer to all ska music performed by bands that started in the 1980s or later.

The term was first used in 1989 by Tazy Phyllipz and Albino Brown of the Ska Parade radio show when bands such as No Doubt and Let's Go Bowling were submitting demo tapes in order to get airplay.^[1] The Toasters, formed in New York in 1981, are commonly referred to as the first third wave ska band.^[2]

Third wave ska music often features brass instruments and a heavily-accented offbeat; a characteristic that was also prevalent in the second wave of ska.^[3] Southern California was the central hotspot for third wave ska, although the genre has spread around the globe. Ska punk and ska-core are subgenres that have comprised the majority of third wave ska music, although several third wave ska bands have played in a traditional 1960s style.

Third wave ska reached the peak of its commercial success between 1995 and 1998. During this period, third wave ska bands such as Sublime, No Doubt, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Catch 22, Reel Big Fish, and Less Than Jake achieved high record sales, mainstream radio play and video rotation on music video networks such as MTV. Christian bands The Supertones and Five Iron Frenzy also achieved notable success in this genre and time period. Between 1999 and 2001, many third wave bands began to break up, while fans of the genre turned their attention to other music genres. Some bands that were part of the third wave ska genre — such as Less Than Jake, Mustard Plug and The Aquabats — continued with less emphasis on horns and traditional ska rhythms, and have not achieved the same commercial success that they experienced earlier in their careers. Since 2001, very few new American ska bands have found the critical or commercial success that third wave ska bands found in the mid 1990s. Catch 22, Reel Big Fish, Streetlight Manifesto, Big D and the Kids Table, Mad Caddies and Buck-O-Nine are among the few ska punk bands that have found acclaim since then.

In 1981, The Toasters' frontman Robert "Bucket" Hingley created Moon Ska Records, which became the biggest American ska record label. It featured many bands that became staples in third wave ska.^{[citation needed]} Moon Ska Records officially folded in 2000, but Moon Ska Europe continued operating in the 2000s, and later relaunched as Moon Ska World. In 2003, Hingley launched a new ska record label, Megalith Records. In 1996, Mike Park of the band Skankin' Pickle officially founded Asian Man Records, which was the biggest West coast United States third wave ska label.^{[citation needed]} In 1997, Brett Gurewitz and Tim Armstrong founded Hellcat Records, which mostly featured punk rock bands, but also featured several ska and ska punk acts. In Montreal, Canada, The Planet Smashers' lead signer and guitarist Matt Collyer founded Stomp Records in 1994. Fueled by Ramen was started by Less than Jake and features many lesser known ska bands.

• History of US Third Wave Ska BBC article
• The Herenow of Ska Essay on third wave ska
• Allmusic Section about third wave ska
• Ska's Third Wave Online magazine article
• The Ska Music Photo essay of Ska personalities
• History of Ska A brief history of ska music.