Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a power trio with drummer Tré Cool, who replaced John Kiffmeyer in 1990 before the recording of the band's second studio album, Kerplunk (1991). Before taking its current name in 1989, Green Day was called Blood Rage, then Sweet Children. They were part of the late 1980s/early 1990s Bay Area punk scene that emerged from the 924 Gilman Street club in Berkeley, California. The band's early releases were with the independent record label Lookout! Records. 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. It was released on May 26, 1989, through Lookout Records with the catalog number LK 17.
Insomniac is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Green Day, released on October 10, 1995, by Reprise Records. It was recorded at Hyde Street in San Francisco, and the band prioritized high-energy takes during the recording sessions. Released as the follow-up to the band's multi-platinum breakthrough Dookie, Insomniac featured a heavier, hardcore punk sound, with bleaker lyrics than its predecessor. Lyrically, the album discusses themes such as alienation, anxiety, boredom, and drug use. Insomniac also served as a reaction to many early fans who had turned their backs on the band after it achieved mainstream success with Dookie.
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.
Dookie is the third studio album by the American rock band Green Day, released on February 1, 1994, by Reprise Records. The band's major label debut and first collaboration with producer Rob Cavallo, it was recorded in late summer 1993 at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California. Written mostly by frontman and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, the album is largely based on his personal experiences and includes themes such as boredom, anxiety, relationships, and sexuality. It was promoted with four singles: "Longview", "Basket Case", a re-recorded version of "Welcome to Paradise", and "When I Come Around".
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. It was the band's only album to feature drummer John Kiffmeyer. Jesse Michaels of Operation Ivy contributed the artwork on the album. The inner sleeve shows handwritten lyrics by Billie Joe Armstrong and letters by drummer John Kiffmeyer and Lookout owner Larry Livermore to I.R.S. Records, rejecting a fake offer to sign to the label and declaring its loyalty to Lookout. There were no official singles released from the album, although "Going to Pasalacqua" was released as a mock-up single in a Green Day singles box set entitled Green Day: Ultimate Collectors.
"Basket Case" is a song by rock band Green Day, released in August 1994 by Reprise Records as the second single from the band's third studio album, Dookie (1994). The song spent five weeks at the top of the US Billboard Alternative Songs chart and garnered a Grammy Award nomination in the category for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. Its music video was directed by Mark Kohr and filmed in an abandoned mental institution in California. In 2001, the song appeared on their greatest hits album International Superhits!. In 2021, "Basket Case" was ranked number 150 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". As of February 2024, "Basket Case" is the most streamed song by the band on Spotify, with over 987 million streams.
Kerplunk is the second studio album by the American rock band Green Day, released on December 17, 1991, by Lookout! Records. Kerplunk was Green Day's last independent release on the Lookout Records label, and was also the first album to feature Tré Cool on drums. Kerplunk officially includes only 12 tracks, but the versions released on CD and cassette also include the four tracks from the Sweet Children EP. One of those tracks is a cover of The Who's "My Generation". Green Day guitarist and singer Billie Joe Armstrong stated in a 2021 Vulture magazine interview that Kerplunk is his favorite album, describing it as "kind of autobiographical".
"J.A.R." is a song by the American rock band Green Day. Written by bassist Mike Dirnt about a friend who committed suicide in a car crash, the song was a previously unreleased track from the Dookie sessions but it was later featured on the soundtrack to the movie Angus in 1995. In August 1995, the song reached number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and spent 16 weeks on it. The song peaked at number 22 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart. The song was featured as the eighth track on Green Day's 2001 greatest hits collection International Superhits!, on their 2011 live album Awesome as Fuck, and on the 30th anniversary reissue of Dookie alongside a demo of the song.
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!
John Kiffmeyer, known professionally as Al Sobrante, is an American cinematographer and retired musician and songwriter. He is best known as the first drummer for the punk rock band Green Day. His stage name is a reference to his hometown, El Sobrante.
The American Idiot World Tour was a concert tour by American rock band Green Day in support of the group's seventh studio album, American Idiot, which was released in September 2004. The tour began in Los Angeles at the Grand Olympic Auditorium on July 29, and the last show was in Australia at the Telstra Dome. During the tour, the band played at the 2004 Reading Festival in England.
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.
99 Revolutions Tour was a concert tour by American rock band Green Day in support of the band's trilogy, ¡Uno!, ¡Dos! and ¡Tré!, that took place in 2013. The tour was named after the song "99 Revolutions" from ¡Tré!.
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.
