By Flynn Demapendan
Green Day, an American punk rock band, is on their way around the world throughout their Savior’s Tour. The band has released 14 studio albums, performed at over 1,300 concerts, won 5 Grammy Awards, won 2 Tony Awards, and have five albums which have received platinum multiple times. Although Green Day has had their wins and impressive milestones, how did the band start out?
Lead singer and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist Mike Dirnt met while they were in grade school in Crockett, California. The two of them bonded and got close after their mutual likings over classic punk groups, which consisted of the Ramones, and the Dead Kennedys.
With their profound, mutual interest, this led to the two forming their first band, along with drummer Sean Hughes (who not long after got replaced by a drummer by the name of Sobrante), called Sweet Children. In 1989, the band recorded an album called 39/Smooth, which was released by a local label called Lookout Records. But, instead of being under the name Sweet Children, they went by a new name, “Green Day.”
Eventually, drummer Sobrante was replaced with now drummer Tre Cool, who was from Mendoxino, California. Tre Cool had already been playing in a punk band called the Lookouts since he was 12 years old.
Now securely building their band, Green Day had built a cult following in the Bay Area’s rapidly expanding punk revival scene, in which Green Day was a big factor. The band went on to release another album under Lookout Records, Kerplunk, in 1992. The band started drawing in bigger crowds after a larger label, Reprise, released Green Day’s major-label debut, Dookie, in 1994.
The album Dookie helped carry the band into the spotlight, earning the band a Grammy Award for best alternative music, and sold more than 15 million copies of the album worldwide.
Green Day’s three albums after Dookie did not do as well, and did not match the success that they had with their major-label debut album. With their decreased popularity, the band decided to take a four-year-long break from recording any new songs.
However, after their hiatus, Green Day released their biggest album yet, American Idiot. This album included a larger scale of political views and commentary from the band compared to their other albums. This album went on to sell 12 million copies (and more counting) worldwide and received the Grammy Award in 2005 for best rock album. Along with the Grammy Award, their single “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” went on to win the Grammy Award for record of the year in 2006.
Then, in 2009, a rock opera based on American Idiot was produced and performed in a theater in Berkeley, California, which told the story of three teenagers trying to escape from their parents in the suburbs. This show, which was named American Idiot, made an impressive jump into Broadway. With this move, the band then went on to win two Tony Awards for scenic design and lighting design of a musical, and a Grammy Award.
The band continued to release other albums such as 21st Century Breakdown (2009), ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré! (2012), Revolution Radio (2016), Father of All (2020), and Saviors (2024).
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015, and the Library of Congress added the album Dookie into the National Recording Registry.
Green Day now continues to have an influential impact throughout the world, from their albums to their impact on the pop punk community. But, despite their success and fame, they’ll never forget their Bay Area roots. The band is now doing their world wide tour, The Savior’s Tour, which started May 30th of this year, and will end March 5 of next year in 2025.
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