Green Day was formed on the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. In 1994, they released the massively successful major-label debut Dookie, which became a breakout success and eventually sold over 10 million copies in the U.S. Green Day is credited with popularizing mainstream interest in punk rock in the U.S.
Green Day has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. That’s good enough to make them one of the world’s best-selling artists of all-time. They’ve been nominated for 20 Grammy awards and 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, American Idiot was adapted into a Broadway play. The Musical was nominated for three Tony Awards, two of which they won, including Best Scenic Design and Best Lighting Design.
Green Day was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.
Fun Fact: Billie Joe Armstrong had the nickname “Two Dollar Bill” in high school because he sold joints for $2 – this is also linked to the band name Green Day, meaning a day of doing nothing but smoke marijuana.
The band’s first name Sweet Children was dropped to avoid confusion with another local band from Berkeley, California, Sweet Baby.
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