Green day

Biography

Green Day was part of the California punk scene. Childhood friends Billie Joe Armstrong (guitar,
vocals) and Mike Dirnt (bass; born Mike Pritchard) formed their first band, Sweet Children, in Rodeo,
California when they were 14 years old. By 1989, the group had added drummer Al Sobrante and
changed their name to Green Day. That year, the band independently released their first EP, 1,000
Hours, which was well-received in the punk scene. Soon, the group had signed a contract with the local
independent label, Lookout! Records. 39/Smooth, Green Day's first album, was released later that
year. Shortly after its release, the band replaced Kiftmeyer with Tré Cool (born Frank Edwin Wright, III);
Tré Cool became the band's permanent drummer.

Throughout the early '90s, Green Day continued to cultivate a cult following, which only gained strength
with the release of their second album, 1992's Kerplunk. The underground success of Kerplunk led to a
wave of interest from major record labels; the band eventually decided to sign with Reprise. Dookie,
Green Day's major label debut, was released in the spring of 1994. Thanks to MTV support for the
initial single "Longview," Dookie became a major hit. The album continued to gain momentum
throughout the summer, with the second single "Basket Case" spending five weeks on the top of the
American modern rock charts. At the end of the summer, the band stole the show at Woodstock '94,
which helped the sales of Dookie increase. By the time the fourth single "When I Come Around" began
its seven-week stay at number one in the modern rock charts in early 1995, Dookie had sold over five
million copies in the US alone; it would eventually top eight million in America, selling over eleven
million copies internationally. Dookie also won the 1994 Grammy for Best Alternative Music
Performance.

Green Day quickly followed Dookie with Insomniac in the fall of 1995; during the summer, they hit
number one again on the modern rock charts with "J.A.R.," their contribution to the Angus soundtrack.
Insomniac performed well initially, entering the US charts at number two, and selling over two million
copies by the spring of 1996, yet none of its singles -- including the radio favorite "Brain Stew/Jaded" -
- were as popular as those from Dookie. In the spring of 1996, Green Day abruptly cancelled a
European tour, claiming exhaustion. Following the cancellation, the band spent the rest of the year
resting and writing new material. The end result is what is called by many, the best album of their
career, Nimrod.

Nimrod was well received by most critics and fans. The album sold 80,000 copies in it's first week to
land at #10 on the Billboard charts. The first single from Nimrod was "Hitchin' A Ride". The single
made it to #5 on the modern rock charts and was in heavy rotation on Much Music and MTV. The next
single the band released would not make it to number one (it's highest position was #2), but it is now
probably the most well known songs Green Day ever wrote. Featuring Billie Joe on acoustic guitar and
vocals, "Time Of Your Life" became the song to play in any remotely sad situation. The song was even
used on the last ever episode of the hit TV show Seinfeld (it was also the most watched finale in the
history of TV). Along with Seinfeld, the song was also played on E.R on two different shows. Nimrod
has sold about two million copies, the lowest sales total out of their three major label albums, but it
probably garnered the band more respect than they could have expected with another Dookie or
Insomniac. The band also vastly improved their live show and even one "Best Live Performance" at the
Kerrang awards.

The Green Day are:

Billie Joe - Guitar/Vocals

Mike - Bass/B.Vocals

Tré - Drums