Who is billie joe armstrong

Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong has always been a voice for the voiceless. The musician is unafraid to stand up to injustice or, when the moment calls for it, to deliver a ferocious dropkick, as he proved in 1997 during a performance at The Filmore in San Francisco.

Armstrong has been on the right side of history more often than not throughout his career, and he wants Green Day concerts to be a place in which people can be free to be themselves without judgement. The shows are designed to be safe spaces that allow fans to briefly forget about life’s realities and come together for a punk-rock show. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always follow the script.

Over the years, Armstrong has endeared himself to Green Day fans with numerous kind gestures during live shows, such as inviting a disabled fan on-stage to play ‘Knowledge’ with the group at London’s O2 Arena in 2016 and subsequently gifting the fan his guitar at the end of the concert. However, that doesn’t top his heroic escapade in San Francisco during the 1990s.

Throughout the gig, which was organised in support of Nimrod, Armstrong had started to notice upsetting behaviour by one male fan with a mohawk towards a young and vulnerable girl. After berating the man, the Green Day frontman decided to take action into his own hands rather than allowing security to do their job.

After pausing the music, Armstrong took to the microphone to yell: “Hey, why don’t you come here, you little mohawked motherf*cker? You wanna fight? I’ll fight you right now. Come on, get up here on the stage.”

The frightened fan declined Armstrong’s offer to join him on stage for a fight, and the Green Day singer then jumped into the crowd to hand out a beating. After justice was served, bassist Mike Dirnt said: “Sorry, but these people didn’t come here to put up with your shit,” which was met by applause by the crowd.

Armstrong isn’t the only musician to reach boiling point and lash out at audience members. In 1981, Keith Richards noticed a fan running onto the stage during a Rolling Stones performance of ‘Satisfaction’, and the guitarist tactfully defended himself by using his Telecaster as a weapon. Meanwhile, Black Flag’s Henry Rollins once unloaded a catalogue of punches at a fan for stealing his microphone.

Unlike the other two examples, the agitator hadn’t done anything personally to Armstrong to elicit a reaction. However, their behaviour towards the young female fan was unacceptable in the singer’s book, and he deemed a dropkick a worthy punishment.

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Billie Joe Armstrong was born in Oakland, California, on February 17, 1972. With his mother Ollie, father Andrew, and five older siblings, he was raised in Rodeo, California. Billie Joe was ten years old when Andrew tragically lost his battle with esophageal cancer.

Armstrong developed an early interest in music, and at the age of 5, a teacher at Hillcrest Elementary School encouraged him to record the song "Look for Love" for the local label Fiat Records. When Billie Joe was 10 years old, he met Mike Dirnt, a future Green Day bandmate, in the cafeteria at Hillcrest Elementary.

Five years later, they started the band Sweet Children. Armstrong attended John Swett High School and Pinole Valley High School for his high school education, but he left the day he turned 18 years old.

What is Billy Joe Armstrong's net worth?

Billie Joe Armstrong has a $75-million-dollar net worth. The punk rock band Green Day is where Armstrong is best known for singing lead, but he has also played in the groups Pinhead Gunpowder, The Coverups, Foxboro Hot Tubs, The Longshot, and The Network.

The Southern California punk scene of the early '90s was cemented by Green Day's first two albums, "39/Smooth" (1990) and "Kerplunk!" (1991), but when 1994's "Dookie" was released on a major label and sold more than 8 million copies, the band was accused of selling out.

Billy Joe Armstrong's music career

Before releasing their first EP, 1989's "1,000 Hours," Sweet Children, then known as Green Day, signed a deal with Lookout! Records in 1988 and changed their name.

Lookout! Records served as the outlet for their first two studio albums, and in late 1990, Tré Cool joined Green Day as their drummer after Armstrong appeared on an EP by Tré's band The Lookouts.

Billie Joe joined Pinhead Gunpowder around that time, and the group put out one studio album and eight EPs between 1991 and 2008. "Dookie," which Green Day released in 1994 on Reprise Records, was given the Diamond certification in 1999.

The album peaked at number one in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand and second on the "Billboard" 200 chart. The following two albums by Green Day, "Insomniac" (1995) and "Nimrod" (1997), both achieved 2x Platinum certification, and "American Idiot," released in 2004, was certified 6x Platinum and peaked at number one in seven different countries.

Armstrong worked with The Go-Go's and Ryan Adams in the early 2000s, and with Green Day's side project The Network, he released the album "Money Money 2020" in 2003.

In 2008, he collaborated with Foxboro Hot Tubs to release the album "Stop Drop and Roll!!!," which peaked at #21 on the "Billboard" 200. Green Day's second rock opera, "21st Century Breakdown," was released in 2009, and a Broadway production of "American Idiot" won Tony Awards for Best Scenic Design of a Musical and Best Lighting Design of a Musical.

Billie Joe played St. Jimmy in several productions of the musical and was slated to play the character again in a film adaptation, but he revealed in 2020 that the movie has "pretty much been scrapped."

Armstrong collaborated with Norah Jones to release "Foreverly," an album of Everly Brothers covers, in 2013 while serving as an assistant mentor on "The Voice." Billie Joe and The Longshot released an album together in 2018 and went on tour together.

Armstrong has appeared in numerous movies and TV shows, but he is best known for his work with Green Day and hit singles like "Basket Case," "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)," and "Wake Me Up When September Ends." He provided the voice for "The Simpsons Movie" (2007), "King of the Hill" (1997), and "Drunk History," as well as appearing in guest roles on "Nurse Jackie" (2012) . In addition to the box office success "This Is 40" (2012) and the critically acclaimed independent film "Like Sunday, Like Rain" (2014), Billie Joe also starred in "Ordinary World" (2016) and provided four songs for the soundtrack.

(Lead Vocalist, Songwriter and Guitarist of the Rock Band 'Green Day')

Birthday: February 17, 1972 (Aquarius)

Born In: Oakland, California, United States

Billy Joe Armstrong is an American singer, songwriter, musician and guitarist. His interest in music developed from a very young age. His father was a jazz musician and bought him his first guitar and thus his tryst with music began. When he was five-year-old, he recorded his first song ‘Look for Love’. He learnt to play the guitar from George Cole for almost ten years. He also learned to play the drums, piano, harmonica and mandolin. He formed a band called,‘Sweet Children’ along with childhood friend Mike Dirnt. Two years later, they formed the band ‘Green Day’ along with other friends. ‘Green Day’s’ most famous hit is the rock opera, ‘American Idiot’ which fetched them many awards and was also made into a Broadway musical in which Armstrong himself acted. ‘Green Day’s’ other albums include ‘Kerplunk’ and ‘Dookie’. He has penned the lyrics for a number of songs,for singers like Penelope Houston and bands like ‘Rancid’as well as‘The Go-Go’s’. He is the co-owner of the recording company, ‘Adeline Records’.

Billie Joe Armstrong was born in Piedmont, California, a small town surrounded by the city of Oakland, and was raised in Rodeo, California, the youngest of six children of Ollie (Jackson) and Andrew "Andy" Marsicano Armstrong. His father worked as a jazz musician and truck driver for Safeway Inc. to support his family. He died of esophageal cancer on September 10, 1982. The song "Wake Me Up When September Ends" is a memorial to his father. He has five older siblings: David, Alan, Marci, Hollie, and Anna. His mother worked at Rod's Hickory Pit restaurant in El Cerrito. Armstrong and Mike Pritchard's first live performance was at Rod's Hickory Pit in 1987; their first performance under the name Green Day was in Davis, a college town approximately an hour's drive northeast of San Francisco Bay.Armstrong's interest in music started at a young age. He attended Hillchest Elementary School in Rodeo, where a teacher encouraged him to record a song titled "Look for Love" at the age of five on the Bay Area label Fiat Records. After his father died, his mother married a man whom her children disliked, which resulted in Armstrong's further retreat into music. At the age of 10, Armstrong met Mike Dirnt in the school cafeteria and they immediately bonded over their love of music. He became interested in punk rock after being introduced to punk rock by his brothers. Armstrong has also cited Minneapolis-based bands The Replacements and Husker Du as major musical influences.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.In 1987, aged 15, Armstrong formed a band called Sweet Children with his childhood friend Mike Pritchard. In the beginning, Pritchard and Armstrong both played guitar, with John Kiffmeyer on drums, and Sean Hughes on bass. After a few performances, Hughes left the band in 1988; Pritchard then began playing bass and they became a three-piece band. They changed their name to Green Day in April 1989, choosing the name because of their fondness for marijuana. That same year, they released their debut EP 1,000 Hours through Lookout Records. They recorded their debut studio album 39/Smooth and the extended play Slappy in 1990, which were later combined with 1,000 Hours into the compilation 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours in 1991. Frank Edwin Wright III eventually became Green Day's drummer in late 1990 when Sobrante left Green Day in order to go to college. California punk band Rancid's lead singer Tim Armstrong asked Armstrong to join his band, but he refused owing to the progress with Green Day. Wright made his debut on Green Day's second album, Kerplunk. With their next album, Dookie (1994), the band broke through into the mainstream, and have remained one of the most popular rock bands of the 1990s and 2000s with over 60 million records sold worldwide. In 2009, their hit American Idiot became a musical on Broadway.Apart from working with Green Day and side-band Pinhead Gunpowder, Armstrong has collaborated with many artists over the years. He has co-written for The Go-Go's ("Unforgiven") and former Avengers singer Penelope Houston ("The Angel and The Jerk" and "New Day"), co-written a song with Rancid ("Radio"), and sung backing vocals with Melissa Auf der Maur on Ryan Adams' "Do Miss America" (where they acted as the backing band for Iggy Pop on his Skull Ring album ("Private Hell" and "Supermarket"). Armstrong has produced an album for The Riverdales. He has also been confirmed to be part of a side project called The Network, which released an album called Money Money 2020. Money Money 2020 was released on Adeline Records, a record label co-owned by Armstrong. Armstrong also provided lead guitar and backing vocals on 3 songs for The Lookouts' final extended play IV (1989).Hoping to clear his head and develop new ideas for songs, Armstrong traveled to New York City alone for a few weeks, renting a small apartment in the East Village of Manhattan. He spent much of this time taking long walks and participating in jam sessions in the basement of Hi-Fi, a bar in Manhattan. However, the friends he made during this time drank too much for his liking, which was the catalyst for Armstrong's return to the Bay Area. After returning home, Armstrong was arrested on DUI charges on January 5, 2003, and released on $1,200 bail.In 2010, Armstrong joined the cast of American Idiot, which won two Tonys, 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 adaption of Green Day's concept album of the same name). Armstrong returned to the role of St. Jimmy for 50 performances beginning January 1, 2011.On Thursday, July 26, 2012 it was announced he joined Season 3 of NBC's The Voice as a mentor for Christina Aguilera. He will mentor the artists on Aguilera's team where she serves as a coach.

In 1990, Armstrong met Adrienne Nesser at one of Green Day's early performances in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They married on July 2, 1994, and the day after their wedding, Adrienne discovered she was pregnant. Their first child, Joseph Marciano Armstrong, who was born on February 28, 1995, now plays drums in a Berkeley-based band named Emily's Army. Their second child, Jakob Danger Armstrong, was born on September 12, 1998. Billie Joe is the co-owner of Adeline Records, along with his wife.