Green Day

Green Day
File:Normal gd014cb.jpg Green Day, from left to right - Tré Cool, Billie Joe Armstrong, and Mike Dirnt
Background information
Origin	East Bay, California
Years active	1988–Present
Members	Billie Joe Armstrong Mike Dirnt Tré Cool
Past members	Al Sobrante
Website	http://www.greenday.com

Green Day is a musical trio from East Bay, California, consisting of Billie Joe Armstrong (guitar, lead vocals), Mike Dirnt (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Tré Cool (drums, backing vocals). Green Day is widely credited, along with fellow California bands The Offspring and Rancid, with reviving mainstream interest in and popularizing punk rock in the United States during the mid 1990s. Their success has influenced prominent pop punk bands like Sum 41 and Good Charlotte.

The band has sold over 26 million albums in the United States, and over 56.5 million records worldwide, 59 million records if digital purchases are included, making Green Day the most successful punk band ever. Green Day currently has three Grammy Awards under their belt for Alternative Album for Dookie, Best Rock Album for American Idiot, and Record of the Year for their single "Boulevard of Broken Dreams". They are also second to the Red Hot Chili Peppers for most number-ones on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart with eight, and most collective weeks at number one on the Modern Rock Tracks with 39.

History

Formation and Lookout! years (1986–1992)

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A shot of lead guitarist and singer Billie Joe Armstrong with his trademark guitar "Blue" very early into the band's history.

In 1986, childhood friends Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt (both aged 14) formed the garage band, Sweet Children. The first Sweet Children show was on October 17, 1988, at Rod's Hickory Pit in Vallejo, California where Armstrong's mother was working. In 1989, John Kiffmeyer sought out Armstrong and Dirnt after his band Isocracy broke up, and together they formed Green Day. Allegedly, they chose the name after a marijuana slang reference and performed the first show as Green Day in the courtyard of Contra Costa College, a junior college in San Pablo where Kiffmeyer attended as a journalism student.

Larry Livermore, who played guitar for The Lookouts and ran the Berkeley, California independent label Lookout! Records, offered the band a record deal after having hearing the band play. The band, he said, played like "The Beatles at Shea Stadium" In early 1990 they released their first EP, 1,000 Hours.

I.R.S. Records had made an attempt to sign Green Day, but the band made it clear that they were loyal to Lookout! Records and that I.R.S. was a cheesy and washed-up label. They recorded two EPs later that year: Slappy, and Sweet Children, the latter of which included some older songs for the Minneapolis, Minnesota indie label Skene! Records. In 1991, Lookout! Records released 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours, a compilation that fused 39/Smooth with the Slappy and 1,000 Hours EPs. In late 1990, shortly after the band's first nationwide tour, Kiffmeyer left the band to attend college in Arcata, California. Lookouts drummer Tré Cool joined Green Day with Kiffmeyer's blessing, and the band subsequently became favorites at Berkeley's all-ages punk rock venue 924 Gilman Street.

In January 1991, Green Day wrote and recorded their second album, Kerplunk!, the first featuring Tré Cool on drums, and released it on Lookout! Records in the following year. The band toured for most of 1992 and 1993, and included a stretch overseas in Europe. The album sold about 50,000 copies in the U.S., which was considered quite a large amount for the independent punk scene in 1992. It eventually topped 2 million albums sold worldwide. The band's sophmore effort included the standout track "Welcome to Paradise", which was re-recorded for Green Day's major-label debut, Dookie. The first track off of Kerplunk, 2000 Light Years Away, was also re-recorded with Reprise Records and was released on the Jerky Boys movie soundtrack.

Reprise Records and the 90's (1992–1999)

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Green Day after Woodstock 94.

Kerplunk!'s underground success led to a wave of interest coming from major record labels, and eventually they left Lookout! on friendly terms and signed with Reprise Records after attracting the attention of producer Rob Cavallo, who would produce almost all of the band's albums from then on. Signing to Reprise caused some problems, as they had long since said that they would never sign to a major label. Reflecting on the period, Armstrong told SPIN magazine in 1999, "I couldn't go back to the punk scene, whether we were the biggest success in the world or the biggest failure ... The only thing I could do was get on my bike and go forward.". They spent the greater part of the year recording their major label debut, Dookie.

Released in February of 1994, and recorded in a mere 3 weeks, Dookie was a commercial sensation, helped by extensive MTV airplay for the videos "Longview", "When I Come Around", and "Basket Case", all of which sat in the #1 position on the Modern Rock Tracks. Later that year, Green Day embarked on a nationwide tour with queercore band Pansy Division as their opening act. The band also joined the lineups of both the Lollapalooza Festival and Woodstock 1994, where they partook in the infamous mud fight, further adding to Green Day's growing publicity and recognition, and only helped push the album to eventual diamond status. During Woodstock, a security guard mistook bassist Mike Dirnt for a stage-invading fan and punched out some of his teeth.

Dookie had a received a very positive response, with All Music calling it, "...a stellar piece of modern punk that many tried to emulate but nobody bettered." Dookie appeared in the book 1,001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, and in Rolling Stone Magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time issue, Dookie was placed at number 193, in the top 39%, and making it the highest placed punk album released since 1979. It beat out favorites such as Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd, and Black Sabbath's eponymous debut album.

In 1995, Dookie won the prestigious Grammy for Best Alternative Album, as well as the video for Basket Case was nominated for 9 MTV Video Music Awards including Video of the Year, Best Group Video, Best Hard Rock Video, Best Alternative Video, Breakthrough Video, Best Direction, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, and Viewer's Choice, while winning none. Green Day won the Outstanding Album, Outstanding Bassist, Outstanding Drummer and Outstanding Group at the Bay Area Music in San Fransisco at Warfield Theatre. The music video for Longview was nominated at the MTV Video Music Awards for Best Group Video, Best New Artist and Best Alternative Video.

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Tré Cool, the band's drummer. As well as drumming, Cool has played a minor role in songwriting and singing, most notably on the Homecoming suite.

In 1995, a new single for the Angus soundtrack was released, titled J.A.R.. The single went straight to #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song was followed by their new album, Insomniac, which was released in the fall of 1995. Insomniac was a much darker response to the poppy, more melodic Dookie. Insomniac opened to a warm critical reception, earning 4 out of 5 stars from Rolling Stone Magazine, raving "In punk, the good stuff actually unfolds and gains meaning as you listen without sacrificing any of its electric, haywire immediacy. And Green Day are as good as this stuff gets." Singles released from Insomniac were Geek Stink Breath, the radio-favorite double single Brain Stew/Jaded, Walking Contradiction, and Stuck With Me (Stuck With Me's title should have gone to the b-side Do Da Da but was printed by mistake.) One track, "86," was a reference to the Gilman Street club refusing them entry after the release of Dookie, claiming that they had "gone too commercial." Though the album didn't approach the success of Dookie, it still sold three million copies in the United States. Insomniac won the band award nominations for Favorite Artist, Favorite Hard Rock Artist, and Favorite Alternative Artist at the 1996 American Music Awards, and the video for Walking Contradiction got the band a Grammy nomination for Best Video, Short Form, in addition to a Best Special Effects nomination at the MTV Video Music Awards. After that, the band abruptly cancelled a European tour, claiming exhaustion.

After taking break in 1996, Green Day was back in the studio by 1997, at work on a new album. The result was nimrod., an experimental deviation from the band's standard pop-punk brand of music. The new album was released in October 1997. It provided a variety of music, with everything from upbeat pop-punk, laid-back surfer rock, and peppy, silly ska, to an acoustic ballad. nimrod. entered the charts at number 10, thanks to the surprise hit Good Riddance (Time of Your Life), an acoustic ballad. The success of "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" won the band an MTV Video Award for Best Alternative Video for the song's video, which depicted people undergoing major changes in their lives while Billie Joe Armstrong strummed his acoustic guitar. Other singles released from nimrod. were Nice Guys Finish Last, Hitchin' a Ride and Redundant.

After the release of nimrod., Green Day took a two-year break, deciding to step back from the spotlight and spend some time with their new families.

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Mike Dirnt, the band's bassist, who wrote Green Day songs such as J.A.R., Ha Ha You're Dead and Scumbag, the latter two appearing on the b-sides compilation Shenanigans.

The New Millennium (2000–Present)

In 2000, Green Day released Warning:, a step further in the style that they had hinted at with nimrod. Changes in their personal lives were reflected in the more mature and straightforward approach they took to their music, replacing nearly adolescent mantras of masturbation with more introspective statements. Critics' reviews of the album were fairly positive, although the album was greeted with mixed reviews within their fan base, who had grown accustomed to their 1990's pop punk sound. Though it produced the #1 hit "Minority" and a smaller hit with "Warning", some observers were coming to the conclusion that the band was losing relevance, and a decline in popularity followed. While all of Green Day's past albums had reached a status of at least double platinum, Warning: was only certified gold. Although the band felt this was some of their strongest work to date, the lack of success fueled questions regarding the band's future.

The release of a Greatest Hits compilation, International Superhits!, and the token complementary assemblage of B-sides, Shenanigans, only fueled the theory that Green Day's career was on the rocks. International Superhits and its companion collection of music videos, titled International Supervideos! sold reasonably well, going platinum in the U.S. It is generally seen as an ideal entry point for new fans of the band, having all of their hits and included two new recordings, "Pop Rocks & Coke", and "Maria". Shenanigans sported the band's b-sides, including "Espionage" which was featured in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. "Ha Ha You're Dead", recorded specifically for the Shenanigans, is seen as the highlight of the album. In 2002, Green Day co-headlined The Pop Disaster Tour with blink-182 helped to resurrect some of the band's popularity, and earned the group many positive concert reviews. The band decided to take some more time off after the Pop Disaster Tour closed, to spend time with their families.

At the 2001 California Music Awards, Green Day won all eight awards that they were nominated for. They won the awards for Outstanding Album (Warning:), Outstanding Punk Rock/Ska Album (Warning:), Outstanding Group, Outstanding Male Vocalist, Outstanding Bassist, Outstanding Drummer, Outstanding Songwriter and Outstanding Artist.

Fighting burnout after Warning:, the band went into a studio to write and record new material for a new album, believed to be tentatively titled Cigarettes and Valentines. After completing 20 tracks, the master tapes were stolen from the studio. The band, understandably upset, chose not to try to re-create the stolen album (Armstrong feared that it would take their fan base "back to about 50"), but instead started over with a vow to be even better than before. In addition, they underwent serious "band therapy," engaging in several long talks to work out the members' differences after accusations from Dirnt and Cool that Armstrong was "the band's Nazi" and a show-off bent on taking the limelight from the other band members.

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Billie Joe Armstrong, the band's lead guitarist, vocalist and principal lyricist.

After a restoration of band democracy, the creative floodgates opened as well, with each member trying different things every day in the studio — most notably the creation of two 9-minute tracks for the forthcoming Green Day record. Billie Joe also stated he previously feared playing "corny" guitar solos if he let loose, but eventually decided "I'm gonna play the fucking thing..." on this album whenever needed. The resulting 2004 album, American Idiot, debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts, the band's first ever album to reach #1, backed by the success of the album's first single, "American Idiot." The album was billed as a "punk rock opera" which follows the journey of the fictitious "Jesus Of Suburbia". Also the album marked a significant growth in the band as musicians. On the background of their pop punk landmark albums Kerplunk and Dookie, American Idiot was noted by critics as far more mature and musically eclectic than its predecessors and is often cited as their best work to date. The two multi-movement suites that both exceed 9 minutes in length, "Jesus of Suburbia" and "Homecoming", composed in 5 different parts. In Armstrong's words, "One day Mike was at the studio and he wrote a thirty-second song. I don't know, I liked it so I wanted to do one too. The one that I did, I connected to his and then Tré did one and he connected it to mine and so on and so forth until we had about ten minutes. It was just purely out of having a good time."

American Idiot won a Grammy in 2005 for "Best Rock Album" and was nominated for Best Album, Record of the Year, Best Rock Song ("American Idiot"), Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group, and Best Music Video, Short Form ("American Idiot"). The music video for "American Idiot" was voted 'The Greatest Rock Video Ever' in a Kerrang! Magazine Poll. In the Australian Triple J's Hottest 100 for 2005, Jesus of Suburbia entered at #61 making it the longest song ever to place in the chart at 9 minutes and 8 seconds. Green Day also won two Kids Choice Awards Blimps in 2006 for Favorite Musical Group and Favorite Song (Wake Me Up When September Ends). They swept the 2005 MTV music awards, winning a total of seven of the eight awards they were nominated for, including the coveted Viewer's Choice Award.

Reflecting on the decade since Green Day's debut major-label Dookie, Billie Joe Armstrong was reported saying the Green Day song that he is most proud of was Jesus of Suburbia, in his words, "I'd have to say 'Jesus of Suburbia'. It always feels brand new, and with that song, we can say that we've done something that no one else has in rock music, that is make a nine-minute anthem that's considered punk rock." American Idiot also marked a major change of the band's image. Before, they dyed their hair wacky colors like pink, or green, and were getting into mud fights with the audience. American Idiot saw the band dying their hair more bland colors, such as black or white, and wearing eyeliner and makeup to concerts. Another change was the band's wardrobe. Instead of wearing t-shirts, the band constantly wore black and red clothes after the release of American Idiot, leading many to accuse Green Day of stealing The Icarus Line's "anti"-fashion statement by wearing black clothes with red ties, or vice-versa, while others think the band is following up with the colors of American Idiot's cover.

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Green Day on the cover of Metal Hammer magazine.

Through 2005, the band toured, promoting the album with about 150 dates — their longest tour in their career — visiting Japan, Australia, South America and England, where they drew a crowd of 130,000 people over a span of two days - one of the largest crowds ever drawn for a rock concert. While touring for American Idiot, they filmed and recorded the two concerts at the Milton Keynes National Bowl in England, which was voted 'The Best Show On Earth' in a Kerrang! Magazine Poll. These recordings were released as a live CD and DVD called Bullet in a Bible on November 15, 2005. This CD/DVD featured hits from American Idiot as well as older songs from Dookie and nimrod., among others. The DVD featured behind-the-scenes footage of the band, and showed how the band prepared to put on the show. The final shows of their 2005 world tour were in Sydney, Australia, and Melbourne, Australia, on December 14 and 17 respectively. On January 10, 2006 the band was awarded with a People's Choice Award for favorite group.

On August 1, 2005, it was announced that Green Day had rescinded the master rights to their pre-Dookie material from Lookout! Records, citing breach of contract regarding unpaid royalties that had been ongoing for some time, and with other Lookout! bands as well. As of October 2005, it is unknown whether a label affiliated with the band (Reprise, Armstrong's own Adeline), a reissue specialist like Rhino, or another label entirely will reissue the Lookout!-era material.

In 2006 Green Day won another important Grammy Award, the coveted Record of the Year for Boulevard of Broken Dreams which spent 16 weeks at the number one position of Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks, a record it shares along with Red Hot Chili Peppers' Scar Tissue and Staind's "It's Been Awhile". Green Day was also nominated for Best Rock Video for "Wake Me Up When September Ends at the 2006 MTV Video Music awards, but lost to AFI's "Miss Murder".

Future Plans

The band has emerged from their half-year rest and said that they are working through demos and new songs for their next album. In an interview with MTV News on June 2, Green Day said that their next album will be "an event" when it is released. Armstrong stated, "At this point, to put a record out with like 12 songs on it and turn it in sounds a bit boring for us. So we want to definitely make something that is well thought-out and [that] all of our blood is put into." When asked about his opinion on Green Day's next release, in his own words: "I think it's exciting, whatever we come up with next, 'cause we know it's gonna go into our career, it's gonna be another chapter. We're gonna take our time and just reenergize and refocus and then come up with a new concept for what we want to do after American Idiot, 'cause there's definitely a lot more in the tank for us." The band's official website stated on September 1st that the band was back from their "summer vacation" and was back in the studio. According to the website, "big news" is in store for Tuesday the 5th, adding "You'll want to be here". The annoucement of the "big news" has been put on hold for a couple of days, as reported on greenday.com on 6th Sept 2006. On, Friday, the 8th of September, Green Day's web site announced the "big news," which was Green Day teaming up with U2 to record a cover of the song, "The Saints Are Coming," originally recorded by The Skids. The song is to benefit, Music Rising (musicrising.org), to raise money for musicians' instruments lost during Hurricane Katrina and to bring awareness on the eve of the one year anniversary of the disaster. On September 8, 2006 it was announced that they were in the studio with U2 recording with producer Rick Ruben. This collaboration would likely be released seperately by both bands, as both are planning new albums by the end of 2006 or in the spring of 2007.

Musical style and influences

Green Day's sound is often compared to first wave punk rock bands such as the Ramones, The Clash, Buzzcocks and Sex Pistols. They also have considerable influence from Elvis Costello. The majority of their song catalogue is composed of distorted guitar, fast, manic drums, and low, heavy bass. Most of their songs are fast-paced and under the average song length of four minutes (4:00). Billie Joe Armstrong has however said his biggest influences are seminal hardcore punk/alternative rock bands Hüsker Dü, Operation Ivy and The Replacements, and that their influence is particularly noted in the band's chord changes in songs. In fact, Green Day has covered Hüsker Dü's "Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely" as a b-side for the song "Warning", and the character "Mr. Whirly" in the song "Misery" is a reference to the Replacements song of the same name. Armstrong's lyrics describe alientation, anger, angst (Jesus of Suburbia), insomnia, hysteria, and hallucinations (Brain Stew/Jaded), boredom, doing drugs and/or smoking (Longview), and purely having fun (King for a Day); The Ramones (one of the band's influences) had similar lyrical themes, like drugs (I Wanna Be Sedated) alienation, (Outsider), and havng fun (Rockaway Beach, Bop 'Till You Drop). However, Green Day's songs since signing to Reprise have slicker production and a cleaner sound with better recording technology compared to previous punk rock bands, like the Sex Pistols, or The Clash, leading some to believe that Green Day's style is a cross genre of Pop punk, whereas punk rock was originally a cry out against the producer-driven sounds of disco, and early "real" punk rock songs were recorded and released on an independent label with lesser recording technology.

Criticism

Beginning with the release of Dookie, and the subsequent explosion of MTV Airplay it received, Green Day has received considerable criticism from those who prefer to see the punk genre as a social movement independent of corporate sponsorship. With the release of American Idiot and the subsequent draw of many new fans, much of this criticism has been revived.

Members

• Billie Joe Armstrong: Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals (1989-present)
• Mike Dirnt: Bass, Backup Vocals (1989-present)
• Tré Cool: Drums, Backup Vocals (1990-present)

—

• Jason White: (Live member) Guitar, Backup Vocals (1999-present)

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The Wake Me Up When September Ends music video, which featured Jason White as a back up performer of the band.

Since the 1999 recording of Warning:, Jason White has been a backing "4th" member of Green Day, touring on their respective Warning: and American Idiot tours. In the music video for When I Come Around, White can be seen making-out with his girlfriend on the hood of a car, at this point in time only a friend of the band. In the music video for Wake Me Up When September Ends, White can cleary be seen on-stage playing guitar, making him the first musician outside of the band performing music along with the band in a Green Day music video. For a brief moment, White can be spotted in the epic Jesus of Suburbia music video. Often in tours, most notably for American Idiot, White frequently plays lead-guitar with Mike Pelino on back-up guitar when Billie Joe Armstrong is interacting with the crowd while singing lead vocals, only playing back up guitar when Armstrong takes control of the lead guitar, as seen in the live performance for "Wake Me Up When September Ends" on Bullet in a Bible. When asked about his "membership" to the band, he stated, although he was offered a position in the band, "It's all about them three, and I'm just a helping hand." White, being a close friend of Billie Joe Armstrong, helps run his independent label Adeline Records as a co-founder. Since 1997 White has also been a member of Pinhead Gunpowder, along with Billie Joe, Green Day Roadie Bill Schneider, and underground legend and zine publisher Aaron Cometbus, although it is primarily a "studio only" project. White plays in The Network as well, in a role very similar to his part in Green Day, playing back up guitar under the name Balducci, as seen in The Network's DVD, Disease is Punishment. Notable previous bands include: Chino Hoarde, The Kicks/Ashtray Babyhead, The Influents and The Big Cats.

Touring and session members

• Jason Freese: Piano, Keyboard, Trombone, Saxophone, Accordion, Acoustic Guitar, Backup Vocals (2004-present)
• Ronnie Blake: Trumpet, Timpani/Percussions, Backup Vocals (2004-present)
• Mike Pelino: Third Guitar, Backup Vocals (2004-present)
• Rob Cavallo: Piano (For the American Idiot recording sessions)

Former members

• John Kiffmeyer, also known as Al Sobrante: Drums (1989-1990)

Other projects

Pinhead Gunpowder

Main article: Pinhead Gunpowder

Since 1991, Billie Joe Armstrong has been a member of Pinhead Gunpowder, providing guitars and vocals along with Jason White. Prolific musician and Zine writer Aaron Cometbus (drums, lyrics), Green Day Road Manager Bill Schneider (bass), round out the line-up. Primarily a "studio only" type of side-project, the band has done a scant few rare shows, last one occurring in 2001 in Berkeley. The band's last release was 2003's rarity collection "Compuslsive Disclosure" on Lookout! Records.

The Frustrators

Main article: The Frustrators

Mike Dirnt also plays bass for the band The Frustrators, who are signed to Billie Joe's Adeline Records. The have two releases on the label, the Bored in the USA EP and thier first full-length album Achtung Jackass. Dirnt has a Frustrators sticker on his bass that is very visible in Green Day's more recent videos. Members of the band are Jason Chandler (lead vocalist), Terry Lineham (guitar, vocals), Art Tedeschi (drums), and Mike Dirnt (bass). Intestingly, all of the members are from other bands, Terry Linehan from Waterdog, Jason Chandler and Art Tedeschi from Violent Anal Death, and, of course, Mike Dirnt from Green Day.

The Network

Main article: The Network

In 2003, during time Green Day spent time in the studio, a New Wave band known as The Network appeared on the scene. Three of the five members of the band are allegedly the three members of Green Day. The frontman, known only as "Fink", is believed to be Billie Joe Armstrong. Armstrong has referred to himself as Wilhelm Fink in the past, and a Pinhead Gunpowder fansite bio of Billie Joe Armstrong confirms Fink's identity. Armstrong's voice is also unmistakable on The Network's albums. The Network's bass player, known as "Van Gough," is supposedly Mike Dirnt; and The Network's drummer, "The Snoo," is thought to be Tré Cool. John Roecker, director of Live Freaky Die Freaky, starring Green Day and other East Bay punk alumni, and Green Day's DVD Documentary Heart Like a Hand Grenade, has spoken of various projects recorded at Studio 880, including a New Wave album and a Christmas album, during the sessions of their latest album. Studio 880 is the credited studio in The Network's Money Money 2020 album and Green Day's American Idiot. No official connection has been made between the two bands, and both bands have defended, sometimes aggressively (in a probably staged press conference where some members from both bands engaged in a heated argument that broke into a minor conflict), the lack of connection between the two. Green Day's management has always declined to comment on the ongoing situation between Green Day and The Network. On October 6, The Network agreed to support Green Day with Jimmy Eat World on the American Idiot tour. Sources close to Green Day have been quoted as commenting, "That's a really bad idea," and, "Can we just make them go away?"

The end of the American Idiot tour saw The Network support Green Day three times, along with Jimmy Eat World, Simple Plan, and Taking Back Sunday, playing the opening slot.

American Idiot: The Motion Picture

Main article: American Idiot (film)

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An article in Metal Hammer magazine about the band's upcoming American Idiot motion picture.

In 2005, a 12-minute video for Jesus of Suburbia was completed, as well as a live video for St. Jimmy. The video of Jesus of Suburbia is stated to be a prequel to their upcoming film, American Idiot: The Motion Picture. In an interview with Billboard magazine, Billie Joe Armstrong revealed that the group are still considering turning their punk rock opera into a film, in much the same spirit as the Beatles' Yellow Submarine, Marillion's Brave, Pink Floyd's The Wall and the Who's Tommy and Quadrophenia. Shooting of the movie is planned to start in 2006. The band has stated they have no intentions of acting in the movie, although they may make an appearance. Lou Taylor Pucci and Kelli Garner from the "Jesus of Suburbia" music video could make an appearance if the motion picture does go into production. Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong has said "It's definitely unfolding. Every single week there's more ideas about doing a film for American Idiot, and it's definitely going to happen."

Charity events

• Green Day performed at the 1999 Bridge School Benefit.
• Armstrong was part of an ensemble of musicians that sang The Beatles' "Across the Universe" at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards as part of a tsunami relief production. The band also pledged to give the profits from the downloading of their song "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" to the tsunami relief fund.
• Green Day performed at the Live 8 concert on July 2, 2005, in Berlin, Germany, where they played "Holiday," "American Idiot," "Minority," and a rendition of Queen's "We Are the Champions."
• The band also contributed a prerecorded performance to the Hurricane Katrina Benefit relief event on September 10, 2005 from their performance the prior week at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. The televised portion (shown on MTV and VH1) showed the trio performing their single "Wake Me Up When September Ends."

Discography

Main article: Green Day discography

The official studio album releases by Green Day are as follows:

• 1. 39/Smooth (July 1, 1991)
  1. 39/Smooth (July 1, 1991)
  
• 2. Kerplunk! (January 7, 1992)
  2. Kerplunk! (January 7, 1992)
  
• 3. Dookie (February 1, 1994)
  3. Dookie (February 1, 1994)
  
• 4. Insomniac (October 10, 1995)
  4. Insomniac (October 10, 1995)
  
• 5. nimrod. (October 14, 1997)
  5. nimrod. (October 14, 1997)
• 6. Warning: (October 3, 2000)
  6. Warning: (October 3, 2000)
• 7. American Idiot (September 21, 2004)
  7. American Idiot (September 21, 2004)
• 8. Bullet in a Bible (November 15, 2005)
  8. Bullet in a Bible (November 15, 2005)

See also

• The Lookouts
• Punk rock
• Pop punk
• Alternative rock
• Best selling music artists

References

• Cohen, Johnathan (2004). "Green Day's 'Idiot' Fueling Banner Year" (http). Billboard.com. Retrieved July 27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
• Cohen, Johnathan (2005). "Green Day not ready to rest 'Idiot'" (http). Billboard.com. Retrieved July 27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
• The Green Day Story (Broadcast on Radio 1 Mon 20 June 2005) (Alternate Link)
• Green Day Biography

External links

• Green Day Official site
• Green Day Concerts
• Green Day discography at MusicBrainz
• Green Day at All Music Guide
• RIAA Top Bestselling artists
• Green Day Authority