Green Day Band Bio

Green Day - Past and Present

Well, here it is. This is my complete biography of Green Day - nice huh?

Andrew and Ollie Armstrong had their sixth child, Billie Joe Armstrong on February 17, 1972 - he would only years later become front man in what is now one of the most influential bands in the world. He grew up in the town of Rodeo California; there was a lot of pollution because of factories nearby. Billie Joe came from a musical family. His dad played drums for a jazz band and he and his siblings took piano and voice lessons with the Fiats.?? When Billie was only four years old, he recorded his first song singing 'Look For Love' with his piano teachers’ small record company, Fiat Records after she found out about his wonderful voice. Billie received his first guitar named 'Blue' from his Dad - this was right before his death. When Billie Joe was only ten, his father died of lung cancer at age fifty - four. It was really hard on him and the whole family; (his older brother Allen had to be the new fatherly character in the house) - so Billie played guitar to sort of make it up to his Dad.

Michael Ryan Pritchard (Mike Dirnt) was born on May 4, 1972 around Rodeo, California. His birth mother was a heroine addict, so she gave him up for adoption. He was soon adopted by a wife and husband who worked with the orphanage. They all ready had one girl, Myla. However, once Mike turned about seven, his adoptive parents divorced which was hard on him as a kid, being adopted and all. His Mom did start going out with some other guy when he was ten but they didn't get along till he was well into high - school. Anyway, around that time in fifth grade when he was ten, Mike met Billie Joe in the cafeteria at his school, one day. They started talking about music and they became best friends. Now, a bit after Billie Joe's Dad died, the two of them decided to form a band.

Billie was on guitar, of course - Mike was on the bass (Mike started on guitar but changed since they needed a bass player) but Billie had to sing as well, even though he didn't want to at the time. They had a drummer (I'm not sure who it was since it was back when they started in high - school). Mike then got the last name 'Dirnt' because he was always making that noise the bass makes in class. They pretty much did cover songs - they would play at Ollie Armstrongs work (she was a waitress) at Rod's Hickory Pitt. Eventually, Billie started writing songs. His first song was about how his mom started going out with a man he detested after his Dad died; him and his siblings all hated him, back then. So he wrote the song 'Why Do You Want Him' at age twelve.

The new band called themselves 'Sweet Children' - they were just kids having fun back then, doing covers, etc. Soon, they started going and playing at Gilman Street and getting into the punk scene as high school wore on. They always admired the Gilman Street scene; they’d often go and watch the bands up there since it was an all - age venue that delivered punk music (Dead Kennedy’s, Rancid, etc) for a cheap price. Sweet Children, however, were not considered ‘punk enough’ to get in. They eventually got a different drummer who got them into Gilman, named John Kiffmyer (sp?) aka Al Sobrante because he played in a popular Gilman Street band called ‘Isocracy.’ Sweet Children started doing EPs and then went on to recording their first album with Lookout! Records - 1039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours in 1989. Right in the middle of recording, Sweet Children decided to change their name to Green Day. They told people it meant a day dedicated to smoking pot. All members of Green Day were at the time, like most young adults into punk, getting stoned and smoking weed quite often.

They started touring more now they had their first album out. Then, John decided to drop out of the band to go on to college. It was hard on Billie Joe and Mike since that left them feeling sort of let down; they didn't know if they could find a replacement drummer. Of course, they did end up finding a replacement drummer.

Frank Edwin Wright III aka Tre Cool was born December 9, 1972 in Frankfurt, Germany. His Dad was a helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War so he moved his wife and three kids into the Mendocino Mountains in California where there was no electricity. Their closest neighbor was Lawerence Livermore, owner of Lookout! Records. When Frank Wright III was about twelve, Lawerence Livermore asked him to join his band The Lookouts and play drums. That's when the band named him Tre Cool - which is French for Very Cool.

Tre dropped out of high school when he was sixteen to go and get a new band. He went out towards Berkeley, California which was around where Green Day was. One day, he was at Gilman Street the same time Billie and Mike were there. They saw him and said they needed a drummer so he tried playing with them and he seemed to be just what they needed. So, the three of them went on to record Kerplunk! with Lookout! Records in 1992.