Green Day

Green Day
Green Day is an American rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of three core members: Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tr? Cool.

Green Day was originally part of the punk rock scene at 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley, California. Its early releases for independent label Lookout! Records earned them a grassroots fan base, some of whom felt alienated when the band signed to a major label. Nevertheless, its major label debut Dookie became a breakout success in 1994 and eventually sold over 10 million copies in the U.S. alone.

As a result, Green Day was widely credited with reviving mainstream interest in and popularizing punk rock in the United States. Green Day's three follow-up albums, Insomniac, Nimrod and Warning did not achieve the massive success of Dookie, but they were still successful, reaching double platinum, double platinum and gold status respectively. Its 2004 rock opera American Idiot reignited the band's popularity with a younger generation, selling 5 million copies in the U.S.

The band has sold over 60 million records worldwide including 22 million in the United States alone. They also have three Grammy Awards, Best Alternative Album for Dookie, Best Rock Album for American Idiot, and Record of the Year for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams."

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 success of Kerplunk led to a wave of interest and the band eventually decided to sign with Reprise. Dookie, Green Day's major label debut, was released in the spring of 1994.

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.

Nimrod was well received by most critics and fans. The album sold 80,000 copies in its first week to land at #10 on the Billboard charts. 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.

After nearly two years with barely any mention of the band, Green Day returned in late 1999 to play Neil Young's "Bridge School Benefit Concert", their first live acoustic performance. Later, Green Day decided to do something else they hadn't done before headline the 2000 Vans Warped Tour. Green Day played an amazing set and brought more fans to the tour than any other year in Warped's history (their Toronto performance alone attracted 7,000 more fans than they had any other year).

"Warning:" was released in the fall of 2000, and is by far Green Day's most ambitious album to date. Its first singles, "Minority" and the album's title track prove to be extremely successful. Just four weeks after the release of "Minority", it sat atop Billboard's Modern Rock chart; no other Green Day song has hit the top that fast.

In September of 2004 Green Day released "American Idiot", an album which lashes out against the American government and the media. "American Idiot" was the first Green Day record ever to debut at #1 on the Billboard Charts, and other music charts around the world. The album's title track was an instant success. The follow up single, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" experienced a must greater success. "American Idiot" was nominated for seven Grammy awards, and took home one, "Best Rock Album".

On January 19th, 2008 it was posted that Pinhead Gunpowder would play 2 rare shows. The shows are scheduled for February 3rd in Anaheim, CA and February 4th in Los Angeles, CA.

They have been around since the 1990's but it is only after their multi-platinum selling hit album American Idiot that the Green Day craze really started to hit the world. Several successful records and Grammy Awards later, Green Day are waving their 21 Guns around the world with amazingly successful tours around the world. The band is one of the best when it comes to rock music and their energetic stage presence goes along well with their heart thumping music that seems to run through the veins of their fans. Get your Green Day Tickets and you will be able to see Billy Joe rocking out live!