Green Day

Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt were 15 when they formed their first band, Sweet Children and started playing locally around Vallejo, California with drummer John Kiffmeyer. Spotted at one of their early shows, they were signed by Lookout Records and recorded their first EP 1,000 Hours in 1989. By the time they released their first album 39/Smooth in 1990, they'd changed their name to Green Day and had started building a devoted following with their punk rock style and extravagant shows. Kiffmeyer quit to go back to college and Tré Cool took his place. In 1994, they upset hardcore fans by signing to major label Reprise, who released their breakthrough album Dookie, which quickly became an international bestseller. The album's three singles "Longview," "Basket Case," and "When I Come Around" all made it to number 1 on the Modern Rock Tracks Charts. Their famous performance at Woodstock '94 lives on in history after a mud fight, started by the band, ended up with bassist Mike Dirnt being mistaken for an over-enthusiastic fan and being tackled by a security guard. The incident did nothing but raise their profile however, and Dookie went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album that same year. Insomniac followed but failed to reach the dizzy heights of Dookie, and the band went on a short hiatus in 1996. They returned with Nimrod, an experimental album featuring styles from punk to surf rock, but the change in direction went down well with fans as the album made it to number 10. A series of albums, both compilation and original, continued to come, but their biggest success came in the shape of the punk opera album American Idiot in 2004. The album and the title single both reached number 1 in the US and earned the band a whole new generation of fans. A stage musical adaptation of the album began on Broadway in 2010, winning two Tony Awards and a Grammy for Best Musical Show Album. This spike in popularity gave the band the boost they needed to get back in the studio, and out of this came ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré! in 2012, a trilogy of albums of brand new material. Green Day were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2015 and the following year released their 12th studio album Revolution Radio. Following the release of greatest hits compilation God's Favorite Band in 2017, the band returned with their 13th studio album, Father of All Motherf***ers, in 2020, and announced plans for a world tour with Fall Out Boy and Weezer. Preceded by 2023 the singles "The American Dream Is Killing Me," "Look Ma, No Brains!," and "Dilemma," Green Day's 14th full-length album Saviors came out in early 2024.