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Revision as of 22:43, 19 November 2002 by Zoe (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Green Day is a popular punk rock band. The members of the band are Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt (born Michael Pritchard), and Tre Cool (born Frank Edwin Wright III).
At the age of 12, Tre Cool became a member of the band The Lookouts. Their album attracted some attention, and Tre began performing at an early age at the Berkeley, California punk club 924 Gilman Street. In 1987, Armstrong and Dirnt (both 15 years old) formed The Sweet Children, with Armstrong on lead vocals and guitar and Dirnt on bass and backing vocals. They began playing at Rod's Hickory Pit in Rodeo, California. In 1989, the Children renamed themselves Green Day, after their first semi-successful song. They soon added Al Sobrante (born John Kiftmeyer), and went looking for a record deal.
The Lookouts were performing on punk label Lookout Records, headed by Lookouts lead Lawrence Livermore. Green Day signed with Lookout in 1989, and released their first EP, 1,000 Hours. The next year, they produced the album 39/Smooth. Al Sobrante left the band at this point, and was replaced by Dirnt.
Green Day kicked off a national tour the day after Dirnt graduated from high school in 1990, then returned to the studio to produce their second album, Kerplunk, in 1992. The group signed with Reprise Records in April 1993, leaving Lookout on friendly terms. They released their first Reprise album, Dookie, in February 1994. Within a couple of months, extensive MTV airplay for the videos "Welcome to Paradise" and "Longview" had established the album, and the band, as successes.
The band joined the lineups of both the Lollapalooza Festival and Woodstock '94. Green Day's Woodstock gig included a gigantic mud fight between the band and the audience, leading to a melee which led to Dirnt's losing his front teeth.
They recorded a single called "J.A.R." in ], and followed it up with the album Insomniac. Though the album didn't approach the success of Dookie, it still sold several million copies in the U.S. Their third major label album, Nimrod, was released in 1997, and Warning in 2000.