Bio

Punk’s purpose was to shock, ruffle the feathers of conformists and make a statement. Green Day, post-punk revivalists of the 90’s and today, manage to filter out the anarchy and faux homage to UK bands from the 80’s for something more modern, more real.

Singer Billie Joe Armstrong was just removing the tires from his training wheels when he met Mike Dirnt in Rodeo, CA. Feeling the need to express some teenage angst in the height of the punk revolution, the two formed the band Street Children at age 14 in 1987. Three years later the band recorded their first EP 1,000 Hours under Lookout Records with new drummer John Kiffimeyer. Sweet Children would rename themselves Green Day and release their debut full length album, 39/smooth a year later – the boys would later reveal that Operation Ivy was the inspiration for the album. On the fringe of college life, Kiffimeyer left the band to attend school and was replaced by Tre Cool.

After building a strong fan base of local college kids at Green Day concerts, the band released Kerplunk in 1992 (to see more information on Green Day Albums check out the Green Day Albums Page.) With local support and more exposure during the following Green Day tour, the album became one of the largest selling independent albums ever. Noticing the increasing popularity of this California punk band, Reprise snagged them up 1993. Dookie would be their first major label release in 1994.

The album garnered so much attention that a Green Day concert was planned for Woodstock 94 and the album won a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance. While hardcore punk fans were  bothered by the lighter, mainstream sound of the album, most embraced it with open arms. Insomniac, Green Day’s second release on Reprise, earned 4 out of 5 stars and multiple nominations from the AMAs, Grammys and MTV Video Music Awards.

Nimrod, released in 1997, would introduce surf rock and ska into the mix. Having much higher charting success than Insomniac and earned them an MTV Video Music Award for Best Alternative Video for “Good Riddance.” “Nice Guys Finish Last,” “Hitchin’ A Ride” and “Redundant” would all become chart topping hits and Green Day concerts would sell out quickly. Warning, Green Day’s 6th studio album was only certified gold, but managed to win 8 California Music Awards. After releasing a Greatest Hits compilation, Green Day tickets would sell out for their Pop Disaster Tour with Blink- 182.

In a tragic set of events, Green Day recorded a new album, Cigarettes and Valentines, in 2003- all 20 tracks from the master tapes were stolen from the studio. There were no copies and instead of rerecording Cigarettes and Valentines, Green Day decided to start over. In the meantime, other problems arose as negotiations to settle band member power struggles occurred. However, American Idiot, Green Day’s 7th studio album, debuted at number one on Billboard charts in 2004 and was promoted as a “punk rock opera.” The album would go on to earn them a Grammy and a 7 MTV Music Awards.

In the longest Green Day tour since their inception, Green Day tickets sold in record numbers to the 150 Green Day tour dates. Green Day was later nominated and won the People’s Choice Award for favorite group and a Grammy Award for Record of the Year. In 2007 the band would be involved in small projects including a cover of John Lennon’s “Working Class Hero” and collaboration with U2 on “Instant Karma” a benefit album for the victims of Darfur.

Foxboro Hot Tubs, a side project involving all three members of the band, released a debut album Stop Drop and Roll!!! in 2008, with all three members adopting alter egos (most notably,  Billy Joe Armstrong’s Reverend Strychnine Twitch.)  That same year, little hints were being dropped about a new Green Day album slated to be released in the summer of 2009. Shirley Manson of Garbage revealed that Green Day would be hitting up the studio with Butch Vig for the 21st Century breakdown album which is said to be more pop-influenced by Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and The Beatles. In addition, Green Day  officially announced that a world tour would happen in the summer of 2009. That successful concert sparked the development of American Idiot the Musical, which began at Berklee in Los Angeles and made it’s was over to Broadway. With so much success, you’d think that Green Day would take a break – but expect them to be on the road in the summer of 2010. So mark off your schedule because Green Day tickets are going on sale soon for the 2010 tour, and true Green Day fans will grab up the best Green Day tickets available as soon as they hit the web. So keep checking back for Green Day tour dates, Green Day ticketing information and Green Day news in the  future.