Green Day: A Brief History of the Influential Pop-Punk Band

Green Day is one of the most influential pop-punk bands. The band was formed in 1986. They have sold more than 85 million records worldwide. They won many awards and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015. Early Years Billie Joe Armstrong, the lead singer was born on February 17,1972.

He was born around a musical atmosphere since his father was a jazz drummer and his mother loved music. Because of his parents, Billie and his siblings were encouraged to play musical instruments. Michael Ryan Pritchard also known as Mike Dirnt was born on May 4, 1972. He was put up for adoption because of his mother's addiction to heroin. Billie and Mike met in middle school. They formed their own band with John Kiffmeyer in 1986.

The band was called the Sweet Children. They were 14-year-olds at the time. Band Members Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and John Kiffmeyer were the original members of the band. John Kiffmeyer soon left in 1990 to attend college and was replaced by Tre Cool. Billie Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tre Cool are still in the band to this day. Past members were Raj Punjabi, Sean Hughes,Aaron Cometbus, and Dave Henwood. Billie Joe dropped out of high school to devote his entire life for the band.

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Tre Cool also dropped out of high school when he was a sophomore and dropped out of community college also. However, Mike Dirnt pushed himself to complete his education. Mike Graduated high school and completed more than one year at community college. Breakthrough Success After their breakout album, Kerplunk record labels were interested in the band. They left Lookout! to get signed at Reprise Records. After getting signed, they worked on their album, Dookie.

The album became a big success. Their songs "Longview", "Basket Case", and "When I Come Around" from Dookie were continuously played on MTV. They sold 10 million albums with Dookie. They were nominated for many awards such as American Music Awards and Grammys. Career Green Day first started playing at DIY 924 Gilman Street club in California. They earned some fame at the club and eventually got signed at Lookout! Records.

From there, they released Kerplunk and they got big success after. They decided to leave Lookout! to get signed to Reprise Records. After getting signed, they started to record Dookie. Like most of their albums, the album was recorded in a few weeks. Dookie was also a big hit but Green Day started to be criticized by other punk fans. They were put on a list of people who were never allowed to play again at DIY Gilman Street. Their albums after Dookie, Insomniac and Nimrod were good but the band was losing some fame.

They released Warning and was criticized by critics because they took a different turn in their music but they weren't ready for American Idiot. American Idiot was a huge hit and they continued to make music. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame After 29 years of playing music together in the band, Green Day was inducted into the hall of fame. They were inducted in the first year they were eligible.

On April 18, 2015, in Cleveland, Ohio, Fall Out Boy inducted them into the hall of fame. They talked about how Green Day changed them and how they wouldn't be a band without them. Then, Billie Joe thanked his band, friends, family, and fans for helping him get through everything. Before the induction, they played 2 surprise shows in Cleveland.

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