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1987-01-01 · East Bay, California, USA · Other

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Green Day is an American rock band formed in Rodeo, California, in 1987 by lead singer and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, with drummer Tré Cool joining in 1990. In 1994, their major-label debut Dookie, released through Reprise Records, became a breakout success and eventually shipped over 20 million copies in the United States. Green Day has been credited with reigniting mainstream interest in punk rock.

Before taking its current name in 1989, the band was named Sweet Children. They were part of the late 1980s and early 1990s Bay Area punk scene that emerged from 924 Gilman Street, a club in Berkeley, California. The band's early releases were with the independent record label Lookout! Records, including their first album 39/Smooth (1990). For most of the band's career, they have been a power trio with Cool, who replaced John Kiffmeyer in 1990, before the recording of the band's second studio album Kerplunk (1991). Though the albums Insomniac (1995), Nimrod (1997), and Warning (2000) did not match the success of Dookie, they were still successful, with Insomniac and Nimrod reaching double platinum status, while Warning achieved gold. Green Day's seventh album, a rock opera called American Idiot (2004), found popularity with a younger generation and sold six million copies in the US. Their next album 21st Century Breakdown was released in 2009. It was followed by a trilogy of albums, ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré!, released in September, November, and December 2012, respectively. The trilogy did not commercially perform as well as expected, in comparison to their previous albums, largely due to a lack of promotion and Armstrong entering rehab. These albums were followed by Revolution Radio (2016)—their third to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200—Father of All Motherfuckers (2020), and Saviors (2024).

In 2010, a stage adaptation of American Idiot debuted on Broadway. The musical was nominated for three Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Scenic Design, and Best Lighting Design, winning the latter two. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015, their first year of eligibility. Members of the band have collaborated on the side projects Pinhead Gunpowder, the Network, Foxboro Hot Tubs, the Longshot, the Coverups, and have also worked on solo careers.

Green Day has sold roughly 75 million records worldwide as of 2024, making them one of the best-selling music artists. The group has been nominated for 20 Grammy Awards and won five: Best Alternative Album for Dookie, Best Rock Album for American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown, Record of the Year for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", and Best Musical Show Album for American Idiot: The Original Broadway Cast Recording.

History

1987–1993: Formation and Lookout! years

In 1987, guitarist friends Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt, both 15 years old at the time, along with bassist Sean Hughes and drummer Raj Punjabi, a fellow student from Pinole Valley High School, formed the band Desecrated Youth and played together in Punjabi's house garage in Rodeo, California.

A few months later, the band renamed to Sweet Children. One of their first songs written together was "Best Thing in Town". The group's first live performance took place on October 17, 1987, at Rod's Hickory Pit in Vallejo, California. In 1988, Armstrong and Dirnt began working with former Isocracy drummer John Kiffmeyer, also known as "Al Sobrante", who replaced Punjabi. It was around this time that Hughes also left the band, causing Dirnt to switch from guitar to bass. Armstrong cites the band Operation Ivy (featuring Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman, who would later contact Armstrong to fill in as a second guitarist for their band Rancid) as a major influence in inspiring him to form a band.

In 1988, Larry Livermore, owner of Lookout! Records, saw the band play an early gig and signed them to his label. In April 1989, the band released its debut extended play 1,000 Hours. Shortly before the EP's release, the group dropped the name Sweet Children. According to Livermore, this was done to avoid confusion with another local band Sweet Baby. Sweet Children adopted the name Green Day, instead, due to the members' fondness for cannabis. In the Bay Area, where the band was formed, "green day" was slang for spending a day doing nothing but smoking marijuana. Armstrong admitted in 2001 that he considered it to be "the worst band name in the world".

Lookout! released Green Day's debut studio album 39/Smooth in early 1990. Green Day recorded two extended plays later that year, Slappy and Sweet Children, the latter of which included older songs the band recorded for Minneapolis independent label Skene! Records. In 1991, Lookout! Records re-released 39/Smooth as 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours and added the songs from the band's first two EPs, Slappy and 1,000 Hours. In late 1990, shortly after the band's first nationwide tour, Kiffmeyer left the East Bay area to attend Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. The Lookouts' drummer Tré Cool began filling in temporarily, and later permanently, a situation which Kiffmeyer "graciously accepted". The band went on tour for most of 1992 and 1993 and played a number of shows overseas in Europe. By then, the band's second studio album Kerplunk had sold 50,000 copies in the US. Green Day supported another California punk band Bad Religion as an opening act for their Recipe for Hate Tour for most of 1993.

1993–1995: Signing with Reprise Records and breakthrough success

Kerplunk's underground success led to interest from major record labels and a bidding war to sign Green Day. The band eventually left Lookout! and signed with Reprise Records after attracting the attention of producer Rob Cavallo. The group was impressed by his work with fellow Californian band the Muffs and later remarked that Cavallo "was the only person we could talk to and connect with". Reflecting on this 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." After signing with Reprise, the band began recording its major-label debut, Dookie. On September 3, 1993, Green Day played their last show at 924 Gilman under the pseudonym Blair Hess before being banned permanently because of their major label signing.

Recorded in three weeks and released in February 1994, Dookie became a commercial success, helped by extensive MTV airplay for the videos of the songs "Longview", "Basket Case", and "When I Come Around", all of which reached the number one position on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The album went on to sell over 10 million copies in the US. At a performance on September 9, 1994, at Hatch Memorial Shell in Boston, mayhem broke out during the band's set (cut short to seven songs), and by the end of the rampage 100 people were injured and 45 arrested. The band also joined the lineups of both the festivals Lollapalooza and Woodstock '94, at the latter of which the group started an infamous mud fight. During the concert a security guard mistook Dirnt for a stage-invading fan and punched out some of his teeth. Viewed by millions on pay-per-view television, the Woodstock 1994 performance further aided Green Day's growing publicity and recognition. In 1995, Dookie won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album, and the band was nominated for nine MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year.

In the band's homestead East Bay following Dookie's success, the band felt a sense of hostility. Armstrong recalled aggressive glares and furtive whispers. The band's success would trickle onto other East Bay bands such as Jawbreaker, a local favorite of Armstrong's, which garnered accusations of selling out during a concert he attended.

1995–2002: Middle years and decline in popularity

In 1995, a single titled…