facts about greenday
Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt are the actual first mambers of the band Sweet Children, which we know today as Green Day . When they were ten (1982), The duo met in the cafeteria of John Sweet High School in Crockett, California. Billie Joe was 14 when he wrote his first song, “Why Do You Want Him?”, a song about his mother and stepfather. In 1987, Billie Joe and Mike recruited drummer John Kriftmeyer (aka Al Sobrante) and formed the band Sweet Children. They played their first official gig at Rod’s Hickory Pit in Vallejo, CA. Soon, they started playing at clubs on the infamous Gilman Street in Berkeley, CA.
As Green Day, they recorded their first smash record, 1,000 Hours, in two days when they were 17 and seniors in high school. Soon, Mike graduated, however Billie Joe dropped out one day prior to his 18th birthday. They followed up the 1,000 Hours record with loads of pressings on the “Sweet Children” record, and also the “Slappy” record. Their official debut album came in 1990, a combination of all the previous records, and named “1039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours”. The album was released by local indie label lookout! records. Soon after, John Kriftmeyer decided to leave the band to presue college, so Billie and Mike recruited Gilman Street vetran, Tre Cool. Tre had been playing in the band, The Lookouts!, since he was 12. Members of The Lookouts include Lawrence Livermore, the owner of Lookout! Records. In 1991, Tre debuted on Green Day’s second album, “Kerpunk!”.
Green Day built its following the old-fashioned way — they earned it. Before they even hooked up with a major label, the band had already completed five national tours, driving their renovated bookmobile (with Tre’s father at the wheel) coast to coast and crashing on friends’ and fan’s floors. After capturing the attention of producer Rob Cavallo of reprize records Faced with a hard choice, the guys decided to sign onto a major label in April 1993, and soon started recorded the album that would through them into stardom, 1994’s “Dookie”. “Dookie”, was released and Green Day introduced an ever-expanding audience. Soon, Green Day’s songs about picking scabs, pyromania and masturbation had become unofficial national anthems. “Dookie” went on to sell more than 10 million copies in the U.S. alone, and Green Day won a Grammy in 1994 for “Best Alternative Music Performance.” Of course, this led some of the gang back on Gilman Street to cry “sell-out” and “mainstream,” On their next few albums, “Insomniac” and “Nimrod”, Green Day has managed to stay true to the punk attitude while proving they’re not just one-trick ponies or even three-chord monkeys. On Nimrod, note the surf-style instrumental, “Last Ride,” and the string section of “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”, which was featured prominently on an episode of ER and the final installment of Seinfield. By this time, the members were starting families, and it was becoming apparent that they were maturing as individuals and as a band. They wanted to take some time off to be with their families and enjoy life. So after the success of “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”, Green Day took a two year break.
In 2000, Green Day hit the music scene once again with their album “Warning”. The album is a different sound for the band, a more mellow punk if you will. Unfortunatly, the album wasn’t very well accepted by critics and fans alike. The biggest hit from the album was the song “Minority”.
Some parts of this biography was written by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, while other parts were written by GDA Webmaster, Courtney Smith, and i just added a bit of a touch up.
