Green DayFrom left to right: Mike Dirnt, Billie Joe Armstrong, and Tré CoolGreen Day is an American punk rock band consisting of Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt (born Michael Pritchard), and Tré Cool (born Frank Edwin Wright III). Though they were born in California, fans from Toronto now claim that they are 'from' Toronto because of a comment Billy Joe made on the American Election Night in 2004, while performing in T.O, "If Bush wins, we won't be from California any more. We'll be from Toronto." HistoryThe beginningAt the age of 12, Tré Cool became a member of the band The Lookouts. Their album attracted some attention, and Tré began performing at an early age at the Berkeley, California punk club 924 Gilman Street. In 1988, Billie Joe Armstrong (16 years old) and Mike Pritchard (16 years old) formed Sweet Children, with Armstrong on lead vocals and guitar, Pritchard (a.k.a. Mike Dirnt), on bass and backing vocals, and John Kiffmeyer (a.k.a. Al Sobrante), on drums. Their first show was in 1988 at Rod's Hickory Pit in Rodeo, California. A couple months later, they played a high school party with the Lookouts in a remote mountain location near Willits, California, where Tré and Kain Kong of the Lookouts lived and attended school. Only five kids showed up for the party, and there was no electricity in the house, so Sweet Children had to play using a generator and candlelight, but they played, as Lookouts singer/guitarist Lawrence Livermore put it, "As if they were the Beatles at Shea Stadium." Livermore, who also ran the Berkeley independent label Lookout! Records, immediately offered Sweet Children a deal, and in early 1989 they recorded their first EP, "1,000 Hours," and then decided, weeks before the EP release, to change their name to Green Day. The record came out, with the cover changed at the last minute to reflect the new name, in April 1989. One year later, in April 1990, Green Day released their first album, 39/Smooth, and that summer set out in a van on their first national tour. Before leaving, they recorded another four-song EP called "Slappy," and while in Minneapolis-St. Paul they recorded a four-song EP of some of their old songs for the local label Skene Records, and called it "Sweet Children". (In 1991, 1,039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours was released which re-issued on CD 39/Smooth with 9 additional tracks from "Slappy" and "1,000 Hours".) After this tour, at the end of the summer of 1990, Al Sobrante left the band on what was supposed to be a temporary basis to attend college in Arcata, California. By this time the Lookouts had become mostly inactive, and Cool, now 17 and living in Berkeley, began playing with Green Day as a temporary replacement. The combination worked out so well that he soon became Green Day's permanent drummer. During 1991, the band toured and played locally, building up a large following, and also wrote and recorded their second album, Kerplunk!, released on Lookout Records in January 1992. The CD version also included the four tracks from the "Sweet Children" EP. They continued to tour through 1992 and 1993, ranging as far afield as the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, Holland, Poland, and the Czech Republic (then still known as Czechoslovakia). AttentionBy 1993, Green Day had sold about 55,000 copies of each of their first albums, a huge amount for the independent punk scene in those days, and attracted a great deal of attention from the major labels. Eventually they decided to sign a deal with Reprise Records, leaving Lookout on friendly terms, and spent the greater part of the year recording their major label debut, Dookie, which proved to be an almost instant sensation, helped by extensive MTV airplay for the videos "Longview" and "Basket Case." In 1994, Green Day embarked on a nationwide tour and chose queercore band Pansy Division as their opening act. At the time this was regarded as quite controversial; nonetheless, the tour was a success. Green Day had made their audience aware that they were not just another 'pop' band with a couple of hit singles. The band joined the lineups of both the Lollapalooza Festival and Woodstock 1994. Green Day's Woodstock gig included a gigantic mud fight between the band and the audience, leading to a melee in which Dirnt lost his front teeth. They recorded a single called "J.A.R." in 1995, and followed it up with the album Insomniac. Though the album didn't approach the success of Dookie, it still sold several million copies in the U.S. Their third major label album, Nimrod, was released in 1997, and Warning: in 2000. In 2003, during time spent in the studio, a New Wave band appeared on the scene, known as The Network. This 5 piece band, at first look/listen appears to be Green Day. The front man "Fink" bears a striking resemblance to one Wilhelm Fink (Billie Joe Armstrong's pseudonym). American IdiotFighting burnout after Warning:, the band went into the studio to write and record new material for an album. After completing 20 tracks — an impressive album according to those few who heard it — the master tapes were stolen from the studio. The band chose not to try and re-create the stolen album but instead started over with a vow to be even more ambitious. The resulting 2004 album American Idiot is being billed as a "punk rock opera", or more accurately a concept album telling the story of characters such as St. Jimmy, Jesus of Suburbia, and Whatsername. Two of the tracks, "Jesus of Suburbia" and "Homecoming", composed by 5 different parts, are multi-movement suites that are both more than nine minutes long. The song "American Idiot" has been hailed by the band as their public statement in reaction to the confusing and warped scene that is American pop culture. The album as a whole is more political than their previous ones, if for no other reason than their aging. Billie Joe has said that they chose to write this way because the band has obtained respect and sway in the music world, and that this social commentary is part of the natural evolution of a band. Their album American Idiot won a Grammy in 2005 for Best Rock Album along with 5 other Grammy nominations. The song "American Idiot" was featured in the video game NFL Madden 2005. Samples
DiscographyStudio AlbumsEPsCompilations, DVDs and VideosPopular singles
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The song "American Idiot" was featured in the video game NFL Madden 2005. Their album American Idiot won a Grammy in 2005 for Best Rock Album along with 5 other Grammy nominations. Billie Joe has said that they chose to write this way because the band has obtained respect and sway in the music world, and that this social commentary is part of the natural evolution of a band. The album as a whole is more political than their previous ones, if for no other reason than their aging. The song "American Idiot" has been hailed by the band as their public statement in reaction to the confusing and warped scene that is American pop culture. Two of the tracks, "Jesus of Suburbia" and "Homecoming", composed by 5 different parts, are multi-movement suites that are both more than nine minutes long. Jimmy, Jesus of Suburbia, and Whatsername. The resulting 2004 album American Idiot is being billed as a "punk rock opera", or more accurately a concept album telling the story of characters such as St. The band chose not to try and re-create the stolen album but instead started over with a vow to be even more ambitious. After completing 20 tracks — an impressive album according to those few who heard it — the master tapes were stolen from the studio. Fighting burnout after Warning:, the band went into the studio to write and record new material for an album. The front man "Fink" bears a striking resemblance to one Wilhelm Fink (Billie Joe Armstrong's pseudonym). This 5 piece band, at first look/listen appears to be Green Day. In 2003, during time spent in the studio, a New Wave band appeared on the scene, known as The Network. Their third major label album, Nimrod, was released in 1997, and Warning: in 2000. Though the album didn't approach the success of Dookie, it still sold several million copies in the U.S. They recorded a single called "J.A.R." in 1995, and followed it up with the album Insomniac. Green Day's Woodstock gig included a gigantic mud fight between the band and the audience, leading to a melee in which Dirnt lost his front teeth. The band joined the lineups of both the Lollapalooza Festival and Woodstock 1994. Green Day had made their audience aware that they were not just another 'pop' band with a couple of hit singles. At the time this was regarded as quite controversial; nonetheless, the tour was a success. In 1994, Green Day embarked on a nationwide tour and chose queercore band Pansy Division as their opening act. Eventually they decided to sign a deal with Reprise Records, leaving Lookout on friendly terms, and spent the greater part of the year recording their major label debut, Dookie, which proved to be an almost instant sensation, helped by extensive MTV airplay for the videos "Longview" and "Basket Case.". By 1993, Green Day had sold about 55,000 copies of each of their first albums, a huge amount for the independent punk scene in those days, and attracted a great deal of attention from the major labels. They continued to tour through 1992 and 1993, ranging as far afield as the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, Holland, Poland, and the Czech Republic (then still known as Czechoslovakia). The CD version also included the four tracks from the "Sweet Children" EP. During 1991, the band toured and played locally, building up a large following, and also wrote and recorded their second album, Kerplunk!, released on Lookout Records in January 1992. The combination worked out so well that he soon became Green Day's permanent drummer. By this time the Lookouts had become mostly inactive, and Cool, now 17 and living in Berkeley, began playing with Green Day as a temporary replacement. After this tour, at the end of the summer of 1990, Al Sobrante left the band on what was supposed to be a temporary basis to attend college in Arcata, California. (In 1991, 1,039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours was released which re-issued on CD 39/Smooth with 9 additional tracks from "Slappy" and "1,000 Hours".). Paul they recorded a four-song EP of some of their old songs for the local label Skene Records, and called it "Sweet Children". Before leaving, they recorded another four-song EP called "Slappy," and while in Minneapolis-St. One year later, in April 1990, Green Day released their first album, 39/Smooth, and that summer set out in a van on their first national tour. The record came out, with the cover changed at the last minute to reflect the new name, in April 1989. Livermore, who also ran the Berkeley independent label Lookout! Records, immediately offered Sweet Children a deal, and in early 1989 they recorded their first EP, "1,000 Hours," and then decided, weeks before the EP release, to change their name to Green Day. Only five kids showed up for the party, and there was no electricity in the house, so Sweet Children had to play using a generator and candlelight, but they played, as Lookouts singer/guitarist Lawrence Livermore put it, "As if they were the Beatles at Shea Stadium.". A couple months later, they played a high school party with the Lookouts in a remote mountain location near Willits, California, where Tré and Kain Kong of the Lookouts lived and attended school. Their first show was in 1988 at Rod's Hickory Pit in Rodeo, California. Al Sobrante), on drums. Mike Dirnt), on bass and backing vocals, and John Kiffmeyer (a.k.a. In 1988, Billie Joe Armstrong (16 years old) and Mike Pritchard (16 years old) formed Sweet Children, with Armstrong on lead vocals and guitar, Pritchard (a.k.a. At the age of 12, Tré Cool became a member of the band The Lookouts. Their album attracted some attention, and Tré began performing at an early age at the Berkeley, California punk club 924 Gilman Street. We'll be from Toronto.". Though they were born in California, fans from Toronto now claim that they are 'from' Toronto because of a comment Billy Joe made on the American Election Night in 2004, while performing in T.O, "If Bush wins, we won't be from California any more. Green Day is an American punk rock band consisting of Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt (born Michael Pritchard), and Tré Cool (born Frank Edwin Wright III). 2005 "Holiday" US, UK. 2004 "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" #2 US, #5 UK. 2004 "American Idiot" #61 US, #3 UK, Grammy Nomination 2005. from "American Idiot"
2000 "Minority" #18 UK. from "Warning"
1997 "Hitchin' a Ride" #25 UK. from "Nimrod"
1995 "Geek Stink Breath" #16 UK. from "Insomniac"
1995 "Basket Case (re-issue)" #7 UK. 1994 "Welcome to Paradise" #20 UK. from "Dookie"
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