THE WORLD'S FIRST GREEN DAY BIOGRAPHY After fifteen years together and
still only in their early thirties, Green Day are the biggest punk band
in the world. Self-confessed latch-key kids from small blue-collar
Californian towns, Green Day's story is far from simple: bassist Dirnt
was born addicted to heroin and left home at fifteen singer Billie-Joe
was the youngest of six children whose father died when he was young;
and drummer Tre Cool was rarely at home and gigging at the age of
twelve. Inspired by both the energy of British punk bands like the Sex
Pistols and Buzzcocks and cult American bands such as Dead Kennedys and
Husker Du Green Day formed in 1989 when all three members were still at
school. Against a backdrop of dodgy glam rock revivalists and mainstream
rock-pop, the trio were quickly selling out every underground club that
booked them. Word spread fast. Two modest albums down the line, their
1994 major label debut Dookie, was a 10-million-selling worldwide hit
album that seized the zeilgest while rock music was still reeling from
the death of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain. Punk was back on the agenda. breed
of bands such as Sum 41 and Blink-182. They toured the world, headlined
all the big festivals, won countless awards and released multi-million
selling albums. In 2004 Green Day reached a career pinnacle with the
concept album American idiot, a sophisticated commentary on modern life.
The No. 1 success of the album, extended Green Day's fanbase even
further - from pre-teen kids to previously sceptical critics - making
them one of the world's biggest rock bands.
