Green Day
- Members
- Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool
- Founded
- 1987
- Discography
- 39/Smooth (1990), Kerplunk (1991), Dookie (1994), Insomniac (1995), Nimrod (1997),Warning (2000), American Idiot (2004), 21st Century Breakdown (2009), ¡Uno! (2012), ¡Dos! (2012), ¡Tré! (2012), Revolution Radio (2016), Father of All Motherfuckers (2020), Saviors (2024)
- Notable Awards
- Grammy Awards – Record of the Year, Grammy Awards – Best Rock Album, Grammy Awards – Best Alternative Music Performance
Green Day rose out of the Bay Area punk scene in the early 1990s to become one of the biggest rock bands in the world. The band’s lineup of singer-guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tré Cool frequently played the Berkeley punk club 924 Gilman Street and signed to the independent label Lookout!, on which they released two albums, 39/Smooth in 1990 and Kerplunk! in 1991. Their 1994 major-label debut, Dookie, became a multiplatinum smash, featuring hits like “Longview,” “Basket Case,” and “Welcome to Paradise,” on which Armstrong set angsty lyrics to fast, fun, extremely catchy tunes that made Green Day the biggest pop-punk act in America by far.
They followed that success with 1995’s Insomniac, 1997’s Nimrod, and 2000’s Warning — albums that didn’t sell as well as Dookie even as they showed the band expanding its musical and songwriting palette, including the hit acoustic ballad “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).” In 2004, they released American Idiot, a rock opera with political overtones that became their biggest record since Dookie. Their next album, 2009’s 21st Century Breakdown, was another rock opera, followed by a trio of albums, ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré!, all released in 2012. That same year, Armstrong entered rehab due to alcohol-related issues. In 2015, Green Day was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The following year they released Revolution Radio, which included a track was based on a character Armstrong had played in the 2016 movie Ordinary World.
Green Day have been open about their political leanings, writing topical songs and sometimes changing the lyrics to “American Idiot” in live performances to express their opposition to Donald Trump and the MAGA movement. Their feelings about the power of rock to offer salvation in dark times also come through in the band’s most recent albums, 2020’s Father of All Motherfuckers and 2023’s Saviors. Reviewing Saviors, Rolling Stone’s Kory Grow wrote, “Green Day, much like combat rockers the Clash, long ago figured out the path to mainstream salvation was leaning away from punk and into their big-box influences while satirizing the world at large.” —Jon Dolan