There is no band out there like Green Day. The Berkley trio have been lighting our speakers on fire with their punk-infused metomorphic rock‑and-roll for nigh-on 40 years. Inside this essential companion to the band, journey through the continued rise of Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool. Explore every album, every high and every low. Witness the trio’s climb through the underground scene, their stratospheric popularity spike with Dookie, their early 2000s lul and how they achieved one of the biggest rebirths in history with American Idiot – and how they continue that momentum today. Discover more about the men behind the music, too, whether that’s Trés love for setting things on fire (watch out!), Mike’s sage-like attitude or how Billie Joe’s world perspective form’s the backbone of Green Day’s music. We’ll also dive into the wider world of punk rock, answer that tired old question of whether Green Day is true punk and take a moment to look at the bands that followed in their wake.
Welcome to THE STORY OF GREEN DAY
C’mon, PuNk, maKE OuR™ GreeN dAY! • So what is punk, and are Green Day it? Here, we try to find an answer
FULL TIME IDIOT • Rewinding to the mid‑2000s and meeting with the frontman of the hour, Billie Joe Armstrong
BASS IN YOUR FACE • Rewinding to the mid-2000s where we sat down with Green Day’s musing Mike Dirnt
THE BASKET CASE • He’s the clown prince of the sticks. We survive an encounter with Tré Cool
THE EARLY DAYS 1987-1994 • Who better to recall the teenaged Green Day, the Gilman Street punk underground and the fledgling Lookout! label than the man who started it all? Lawrence Livermore
39/Smooth 1990, Lookout! • GREEN DAY SET OUT THEIR STALL ON THEIR RAW BUT PROMISING DEBUT RECORD
Kerplunk 1991, Lookout! • GREEN DAY’S SECOND UNDERGROUND LP LAID THE GROUNDWORK FOR MAINSTREAM SUCCESS
Dookie 1994, Reprise • HOW GREEN DAY FIRST TASTED MAJOR SUCCESS – AND THEN SOME – WITH REPRISE
FREAK OUT! • How ‘Basket Case’ became a Green Day staple, and why that pissed the group off
FROM THE MARGINS TO THE MAINSTREAM 1995-1999 • Like many before them, the mid-1990s found Green Day struggling to reconcile mainstream success with their defiant grassroots ethos
1995, Reprise Insomniac • HOW GREEN DAY STRETCHED OUT TO WAIT…
Nimrod 1997, Reprise • HORNS AND VIOLINS PROVIDE THE BACKDROP TO GREEN DAY’S MOST MATURE RECORD TO DATE
GREEN DAY UNPLUGGED • How Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) marked a sea change for Green Day
THE POP-PUNK REVOLUTION YEARS • The 2000s marked the dawn of a new millennium and ushered in the next era for Green Day
Warning 2000, Reprise • IT UPSET THE OLD SCHOOL FANBASE BUT PUT GREEN DAY SQUARELY IN THE MAINSTREAM
American Idiot 2004, Reprise • GREEN DAY TAKE ON CORPORATE USA WITH THEIR PLATINUM-SELLING CONCEPT ALBUM
21st Century Breakdown 2009, Reprise • ANGER AND DISAFFECTION WITH AN AMERICA RAVAGED BY GEORGE W. BUSH’S PRESIDENCY INFORMS GREEN DAY’S EIGHTH STUDIO ALBUM, A STUNNINGLY AMBITIOUS WORK
GOOD TIMES BAD TIMES • From addiction and cancelled tours to landmark moments – how the 2010s unfolded for Green Day
¡Uno!, ¡Dos! & ¡Tré! 2012, Reprise • BUOYED UP BY AN ABUNDANCE OF NEW MATERIAL, GREEN DAY BOLDLY EMBARKED ON RECORDING A TRILOGY OF ALBUMS
Revolution Radio 2016, Reprise • A WIDELY REGARDED RETURN TO FORM AS GREEN DAY LEAVE THEIR AMBITIOUS TRILOGY BEHIND THEM AND GO BACK TO BASICS
KEEP ON KEEPING ON • Almost four decades since they formed, Green Day’s appeal remains as enduring as ever
Father of All Motherfuckers 2020, Reprise • GREEN DAY ADOPT AN APOLITICAL STANCE ON THIS GLEEFUL AND RAUCOUS ALBUM, WHICH EXHIBITS REAL...
