Billie Joe Armstrong: Life, Career, and Green Day's Success

Billie Joe Armstrong was born in Piedmont, California, and raised in Rodeo, California, as the youngest of six children to Andrew Armstrong and Ollie Jackson. His father died of esophageal cancer on September 10, 1982, when Billie was just ten years old. The song "Wake Me Up When September Ends" is a memorial to his father.

Armstrong and Mike Dirnt got one of their first gigs at Rod's Hickory Pit during their early years; their first gig was in Davis, a college town. Armstrong's interest in music started at a young age. He attended Hillcrest Elementary School in Rodeo, where a teacher encouraged him to record a song titled "Look For Love." Armstrong attended John Swett High School, also in Crockett, and later Pinole Valley High School, in Pinole, California, but then dropped out to pursue his musical career.

Early Career

Armstrong formed a band called Sweet Children with childhood friend Mike Dirnt at the age of 15. In the beginning, Dirnt and Armstrong were both on guitar, with John Kiffmeyer, also known as Al Sobrante, on drums, and Sean Hughes on bass. After a few gigs, Hughes left the band in 1988; Dirnt switched to bass, and they became a three-piece band. They changed their name to Green Day in April 1989, allegedly choosing the name because of their fondness for marijuana.

That same year, they recorded the EPs 39/Smooth, 1,000 Hours, and Slappy, later combined into the LP 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours, on Lookout! Records. Tré Cool eventually became Green Day's drummer in late 1990 when Sobrante left Green Day to go to college. Cool made his debut on Green Day's second album, Kerplunk!.

Mainstream Success

With their next album, Dookie, the band broke through into the mainstream and has remained one of the most popular rock bands of the 1990s and 2000s, with over 60 million records sold worldwide.

American Idiot

In 2009, their hit American Idiot became an opera. In 2010, Armstrong joined the cast of the Tony Award-winning musical, American Idiot, for one week in the role of St. Jimmy. He replaced the original Broadway cast member Tony Vincent from September 28 to October 3. American Idiot is an adaptation of Green Day's concept album of the same name.

Other Projects

Billie Joe Armstrong is a fascinating musician and has also played with bands such as U2, The Influents, Corrupted Morals, Rancid, the Lookouts, blink-182, Goodbye Harry, and Blatz.