Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist 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 10 million copies in the U.S. Alongside fellow California punk bands Bad Religion, the Offspring, Rancid, NOFX, Pennywise and Social Distortion, Green Day is credited with popularizing mainstream interest in punk rock in the U.S.
Billie Joe Armstrong is an American musician who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Green Day, which he co-founded with Mike Dirnt in 1987. He is also a guitarist and vocalist for the punk rock band Pinhead Gunpowder, and provides lead vocals for Green Day's side projects Foxboro Hot Tubs, the Network, the Longshot and the Coverups. Armstrong has been considered by critics as one of the greatest punk rock guitarists of all time.
1,000 Hours is the debut EP by American rock band Green Day, released in April 1989 through Lookout Records. Through a shared interest in music, school friends Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt formed the band Sweet Children. With the addition of drummer John Kiffmeyer, the played at the local punk club 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley, California, where they started attracting a following. After playing a show with the Lookouts, one of their members, Larry Livermore, signed Sweet Children to his label Lookout Records. They co-produced their debut EP, 1,000 Hours, with Andy Ernst at the Art of Ears Studio in San Francisco, California, in early 1989.
Michael Ryan Pritchard, better known by his stage name Mike Dirnt, is an American rock musician who is the co-founder, bassist, backing vocalist, and occasional lead vocalist of Green Day. He has also played in several other bands, including the Frustrators. His stage name Dirnt was originally a nickname that his friends from grade school gave him, as he constantly played "air bass/guitar" and made a "dirnt, dirnt, dirnt" noise while pretending to pluck the strings.
Sweet Children is the third EP by American rock band Green Day. It was released in August 1990 through Skene! Records. The name of the EP is a reference to the original name of the band.
Slappy is the second EP by American rock band Green Day. It was released in 1990 through Lookout! Records. Upon its release, several different colors of vinyl were available in limited quantities. Billie Joe Armstrong cited the extended play as the one on which Green Day began to find its sound.
The Network is an American six-piece new wave band. A secret side project of rock band Green Day, they released their debut album Money Money 2020 on Adeline Records on September 30, 2003. After a 15-year hiatus, the band became active again in 2020, releasing a follow-up album titled Money Money 2020 Part II: We Told Ya So! in December 2020.
1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours is a compilation album comprising early recordings by American rock band Green Day, released October 1, 1991, on Lookout Records. Often erroneously referred to as the band's debut album, the compilation combines the band's actual debut 39/Smooth and its first two EPs Slappy and 1,000 Hours, as suggested by the amalgamation of the titles of the debut album and two EPs for the resulting compilation album. The album includes one cover, "Knowledge", which was originally by influential California punk band Operation Ivy, whose singer, Jesse Michaels, contributed the artwork for the album. The cover art features the same image from 39/Smooth.
39/Smooth is the debut studio album by the American rock band Green Day, released on April 13, 1990, by Lookout Records. After finalizing their line-up, the band played frequent shows at the 924 Gilman Street venue, and eventually caught the attention of Lookout Records' founder Larry Livermore. Following the release of the 1,000 Hours (1989) EP and stints in other bands, Green Day went to Art of Ears Studio, located in San Francisco, California, to record their debut studio album, which was co-produced with Andy Ernst. Sessions started at late December 1989 and ended in January 1990, costing $675. 39/Smooth has been tagged as punk rock, pop-punk and skate punk, with comparisons made to the work of older punk bands the Buzzcocks and the Ramones, as well to contemporaries Crimpshrine and the Lookouts. Unrequited love and longing for desire served as the main lyrical topics, while reminiscing on youth appeared in two of the songs.
"Longview" is the debut single by American rock band Green Day. It is the fourth track on the band's third studio album, Dookie (1994), released on February 1, 1994. The song was the band's first single to top the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in the U.S. The music video for the song received heavy airplay on MTV and is largely credited for breaking Green Day into mainstream popularity. It was directed by Bay Area music video director Mark Kohr, who later collaborated with the band on future music videos.
Money Money 2020 is the debut studio album by new wave band The Network. It was released on September 30, 2003, through Adeline Records. Members of Green Day have denied being involved in the Network, however, Mike Dirnt revealed that they had a hand in the album. It was the band's only release for seventeen years, upon which they returned in 2020 with a sequel album entitled Money Money 2020 Part II: We Told Ya So!
Cigarettes and Valentines is an unreleased studio album by American rock band Green Day. The album would have been the follow-up to Warning (2000). In 2003, the album was nearly finished when the master tapes were mysteriously stolen from the band's studio. Instead of re-recording the album, the band decided to start from scratch, leading to the creation of American Idiot (2004). To date, only the title track has been released in full form, although American Idiot track "Homecoming" contains elements of the album. In an interview the band did on the New York radio station Q104.3 on March 28, 2010, Green Day confirmed "Too Much Too Soon" was a song recorded during the Cigarettes and Valentines sessions.
"21st Century Breakdown" is a song by American rock band Green Day from their album of the same name. Billie Joe Armstrong composed the song, which is mainly based on his personal life and musical influences. The song was released as the fourth single from the album on December 21, 2009.
Tune In, Tokyo... is a live EP by the American rock band Green Day released exclusively in Japan in 2001. It was recorded during the tour of Warning in March 2001 in Sendai, Japan.
Frank Edwin Wright III, better known by his stage name Tré Cool, is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band Green Day. He replaced the band's former drummer, John Kiffmeyer, in 1990. Cool has also played in the Lookouts, Samiam, Dead Mermaids, Bubu and the Brood and the Green Day side projects the Network and the Foxboro Hot Tubs.
"Oh Love" is a song by American rock band Green Day. It was released as the lead single from their ninth studio album, ¡Uno!, through Reprise Records on July 16, 2012, and is the album's closing track. It is also the first single overall from the ¡Uno!, ¡Dos! & ¡Tré! trilogy. An EP of the song was released on August 14, 2012, the same day Kill the DJ was released as a single. It was recorded at Jingletown Studios from February 14 to June 26, 2012; however, it was also played at a secret show held by the band in 2011.
Demolicious is a compilation album by American rock band Green Day. It was released on Record Store Day on April 19, 2014. It is a collection of demo versions of songs from their ¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tré! album trilogy. The album also includes the previously unreleased "State of Shock" and an acoustic version of "Stay the Night". It was released on double vinyl, CD, and cassette tape. The cover art was designed by comic book artist Tom Neely with Kristina Collantes.
Woodstock 1994 is a live album by the American rock band Green Day. The album was released specially through Record Store Day on April 13, 2019, in honor of the 50th anniversary of Woodstock and the 25th anniversary of the now-famous set the band played at Woodstock '94. This was the first live Green Day album to feature the entire setlist. On August 17, 2023, Green Day announced that the album would make a reappearance on vinyl and first time on CD as part of Dookie 30.
The Hella Mega Tour was a concert tour by American rock bands Green Day, Fall Out Boy, and Weezer that was announced on September 10, 2019 and originally included dates from March to August 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Oceanic leg was canceled, as well as the sole Canadian date. The rest of the tour was rescheduled to 2021 and 2022.
Trans Am is a studio EP by American new wave band The Network, a side project of the American punk rock band Green Day, released on 20 November 2020. It was the first release from The Network in 15 years.
