History: Formation and Lookout! Years (39/smooth and Kerplunk, 1987-1993)

Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by
lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike
Dirnt. For much of the band's career, they have been a trio with a drummer Tré Cool,
who replaced John Kiffmeyer in 1990 before the recording of the band's second studio
album, Kerplunk (1991). Touring guitarist Jason White became a full-time member in
2012, but returned to his role as a touring member in 2016.
Green Day was originally part of the late-'80s/early-'90s punk scene at the DIY 924
Gilman Street club in Berkeley, California. The band's early releases were with the
independent record label Lookout! Records. In 1994, their major-label debut Dookie,
released through Reprise Records, became a breakout success and eventually shipped
over 10 million copies in the U.S. Green Day is credited alongside fellow California punk
bands NOFX, Sublime, Bad Religion, the Offspring, and Rancid with popularizing
mainstream interest in punk rock in the U.S.
Though the albums Insomniac (1995), Nimrod (1997), and Warning (2000) did not match
the success of Dookie, they were still successful with the former two reaching triple
platinum status while the latter achieved gold. Green Day's seventh album, a rock
opera called American Idiot (2004), found popularity with a younger generation, selling
six million copies in the U.S. Their next album, 21st Century Breakdown, was released in
2009 and achieved the band's best chart performance. It was followed by a trilogy of
albums, ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré!, released in September, November, and December 2012,
respectively. The trilogy did not perform as well as expected commercially in comparison
to their previous albums largely due to lack of promotion and lead singer and
guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong going into rehab. Their twelfth studio album, Revolution
Radio, was released in October 2016 and became their third to debut at No. 1 on
the Billboard 200. The band's thirteenth studio album, Father of All Motherfuckers, was
released on February 7, 2020.
Green Day has sold more than 90 million records worldwide, making them one of
the best-selling music artists[1] The group has been nominated for 20 Grammy awards
and has won five of them with Best Alternative Album for Dookie, Best Rock
Album for American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown, Record of the Year for
"Boulevard of Broken Dreams", and Best Musical Show Album for American Idiot: The
Original Broadway Cast Recording.
In 2010, a stage adaptation of American Idiot debuted on Broadway. The musical was
nominated for three Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Scenic Design, and Best Lighting
Design, winning the latter two. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame in 2015, their first year of eligibility. In 2018, members of Green Day, along with
several friends, formed the side project The Coverups to perform cover songs.
History[edit]
Formation and Lookout! years (39/Smooth and Kerplunk,
1987–1993)[edit]
In 1987, friends Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt, 15 years old at the time, formed a
band under the name Sweet Children.[2][3][4] The group's first live performance took place
on October 17, 1987, at Rod's Hickory Pit in Vallejo, California.[5] In 1988, Armstrong and
Dirnt began working with former Isocracy drummer John Kiffmeyer, also known as "Al
Sobrante".[6] Armstrong cites the band Operation Ivy (which featured Tim
Armstrong and Matt Freeman, who would later contact Armstrong to fill in as a possible
second guitarist for their band Rancid) as a major influence, and a group that inspired
him to form a band.[7][8]
In 1988, Larry Livermore, owner of Lookout! Records, saw the band play an early show
and signed the group to his label. In 1989, the band recorded its debut extended
play, 1,000 Hours. Before 1,000 Hours was released, the group dropped the name Sweet
Children; according to Livermore, this was done to avoid confusion with another local
band Sweet Baby.[9] The band adopted the name Green Day, due to the members'
fondness for cannabis.[10][11] Armstrong once admitted in 2001 that he considered it to be
the worst band name in the world.[12]
Lookout! released Green Day's debut studio album, 39/Smooth in early 1990. Green Day
recorded two extended plays later that year, Slappy and Sweet Children, the latter of
which included older songs that the band had recorded for the Minneapolis independent
record label Skene! Records.[13] In 1991, Lookout! Records re-released 39/Smooth under
the name 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours, and added the songs from the band's first
two EPs, Slappy, and 1,000 Hours. In late 1990, shortly after the band's first nationwide
tour, Kiffmeyer left the East Bay area to attend Humboldt State University in Arcata,
California.[5][14] The Lookouts' drummer Tré Cool began filling in as a temporary
replacement and later Cool's position as Green Day's drummer became permanent,
which Kiffmeyer "graciously accepted".[15] The band went on tour for most of 1992 and
1993, and played a number of shows overseas in Europe. The band's second studio
album Kerplunk sold 50,000 copies in the U.S.[16]
Breakthrough success (Dookie and Insomniac, 1994–1996)

[edit]
Kerplunk's underground success led to some major record labels being interested in
signing Green Day, and the band eventually left Lookout! and signed to Reprise
Records after attracting the attention of producer Rob Cavallo. The group was impressed
by his work with the fellow Californian band The Muffs and later remarked that Cavallo
"was the only person we could talk to and connect with".[17] Reflecting on the period,
Armstrong told Spin magazine in 1999, "I couldn't go back to the punk scene, whether we
were the biggest success in the world or the biggest failure ... The only thing I could do
was get on my bike and go forward."[18] After signing with Reprise, the band went to work
on recording its major-label debut, Dookie.
Recorded in three weeks, and released in February 1994,[19] Dookie became a
commercial success, helped by extensive MTV airplay for the videos of the songs
"Longview", "Basket Case", and "When I Come Around", all of which reached the number
one position on the Modern Rock Tracks charts. The album went on to sell over 10
million copies in the US.[20] At a performance on September 9, 1994 at Hatch Memorial
Shell in Boston, mayhem broke out during the band's set (cut short to seven songs) and
by the end of the rampage, 100 people were injured and 45 arrested.[21] The band also
joined the lineups of both the Lollapalooza festival and Woodstock '94, where the group
started an infamous mud fight. During the concert, a security guard mistook bassist Mike
Dirnt for a stage-invading fan and punched out some of his teeth.[22] Viewed by millions
by pay-per-view television, the Woodstock 1994 performance further aided Green Day's
growing publicity and recognition.[17] In 1995, Dookie won the Grammy Award for Best
Alternative Album and the band was nominated for nine MTV Video Music
Awards including Video of the Year.
In 1995, a new single for the Angus soundtrack was released, entitled "J.A.R.". The
single debuted at number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song was
followed by the band's fourth studio album, Insomniac, which was released in the fall of
1995. Insomniac was a much darker and heavier response to the band's newfound
popularity, compared to the more melodic Dookie.[17] The album opened to a warm critical
reception, earning 4 out of 5 stars from Rolling Stone, which said "In punk, the good stuff
unfolds and gains meaning as you listen without sacrificing any of its electric, haywire
immediacy. And Green Day are as good as this stuff gets."[23] The singles released
from Insomniac were "Geek Stink Breath", "Stuck with Me", "Brain Stew/Jaded", and
"Walking Contradiction".
Though the album did not approach the success of Dookie, it sold three million copies in
the United States.[24] Besides, the album won the band award nominations for Favorite
Artist, Favorite Hard Rock Artist, and Favorite Alternative Artist at the 1996 American
Music Awards, and the video for "Walking Contradiction" got the band a Grammy
nomination for Best Video, Short Form, in addition to a Best Special Effects nomination at
the MTV Video Music Awards. After that, the band abruptly canceled a European tour,
citing exhaustion.[25]
Middle years and decline in commercial success

(Nimrod and Warning, 1997–2002)[edit]
After a brief hiatus in 1996, Green Day began to work on a new album in 1997. From the
outset, both the band and Cavallo agreed that the album had to be different from its
previous albums.[26] The result was Nimrod, an experimental deviation from the band's
standard pop-punk brand of music. The new album was released in October 1997. It
provided a variety of music, from pop-punk, surf rock, and ska, to an acoustic
ballad. Nimrod entered the charts at number 10. The success of "Good Riddance (Time
of Your Life)" won the band an MTV Video Award for Best Alternative Video. The song
was also used in the second "clip show" episode of Seinfeld and on two episodes of ER.
The other singles released from Nimrod were "Nice Guys Finish Last", "Hitchin' a Ride"
and "Redundant". The band made a guest appearance in an episode of King of the
Hill entitled "The Man Who Shot Cane Skretteberg", which aired in 1997. In late 1997 and
most of 1998, Green Day embarked on a tour in support of Nimrod. In 1999,
guitarist Jason White began supporting the band during concerts as a rhythm guitarist.
In 2000, Green Day released its sixth studio album Warning. In support of the album, the
band participated in the Warped Tour in 2000. In November 2000, the band performed
for free on the steps on San Francisco's City Hall to protest the eviction of artists from the
city in a show produced by Ian Brennan.[27] The band also had an independent tour to
support the album in 2001. Critics' reviews of the album were varied.[28] AllMusic gave it
4.5/5 saying "Warning may not be an innovative record per se, but it's tremendously
satisfying."[29] Rolling Stone was more critical, giving it 3/5, and saying "Warning... invites
the question: Who wants to listen to songs of faith, hope and social commentary from
what used to be snot-core's biggest-selling band?"[30] Though it produced the hit "Minority"
and a smaller hit with "Warning", some observers were coming to the conclusion that the
band was losing relevance,[28] and a decline in popularity followed. While all of Green
Day's previous albums had reached a status of at least triple platinum, Warning was only
certified gold.[31]
At the 2001 California Music Awards, Green Day won all eight of the awards for which
the group was nominated.[32] The group won the awards for Outstanding Album
(Warning), Outstanding Punk Rock/Ska Album (Warning), Outstanding Group,
Outstanding Male Vocalist, Outstanding Bassist, Outstanding Drummer, Outstanding
Songwriter, and Outstanding Artist.[33]
The release of two compilation albums, International Superhits! and Shenanigans,
followed Warning. International Superhits and its companion collection of music
videos, International Supervideos!. Shenanigans contained some of the band's b-sides,
including "Espionage", which was featured in the film Austin Powers: The Spy Who
Shagged Me and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental
Performance.[32]
In the spring of 2002, Green Day co-headlined the Pop Disaster Tour with Blink-182,
which was documented on the DVD Riding in Vans with Boys.[34]

History: Formation and Lookout! Years (39/smooth and Kerplunk, 1987-1993)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

History: Formation and Lookout! Years (39/smooth and Kerplunk, 1987-1993)

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

History: Formation and Lookout! Years (39/smooth and Kerplunk, 1987-1993)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by

Breakthrough success (Dookie and Insomniac, 1994–1996)

Middle years and decline in commercial success

You might also like