Green Day was part of the California punk scene. Childhood friends Billie Joe Armstrong (guitar, vocals) and Mike Dirnt (bass; born Mike Pritchard) formed their first band, Sweet Children, in Rodeo, California when they were 14 years old. By 1989, the group had added drummer Al Sobrante and changed their name to Green Day. That year, the band independently released their first EP, 1,000 Hours, which was well-received in the punk scene. Soon, the group had signed a contract with the local independent label, Lookout! Records. 39/Smooth, Green Day's first album, was released later that year. Shortly after its release, the band replaced Kiftmeyer with Tre Cool (born Frank Edwin Wright, III); Tre Cool became the band's permanent drummer.Throughout the early '90s, Green Day continued to cultivate a cult following, which only gained strength with the release of their second album, 1992's Kerplunk.

The underground success of Kerplunk led to a wave of interest from major record labels; the band eventually decided to sign with Reprise. Dookie, Green Day's major label debut, was released in the spring of 1994. Thanks to MTV support for the initial single "Longview," Dookie became a major hit. The album continued to gain momentum throughout the summer, with the second single "Basket Case" spending five weeks on the top of the American modern rock charts. At the end of the summer, the band stole the show at Woodstock '94, which helped the sales of Dookie increase. By the time the fourth single "When I Come Around" began its seven-week stay at number one in the modern rock charts in early 1995, Dookie had sold over five million copies in the US alone; it would eventually top eight million in America, selling over eleven million copies internationally. Dookie also won the 1994 Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance.Green Day quickly followed Dookie with Insomniac in the fall of 1995; during the summer, they hit number one again on the modern rock charts with "J.A.R.," their contribution to the Angus soundtrack. Insomniac performed well initially, entering the US charts at number two, and selling over two million copies by the spring of 1996, yet none of its singles -- including the radio favorite "Brain Stew/Jaded" -- were as popular as those from Dookie.

In the spring of 1996, Green Day abruptly cancelled a European tour, claiming exhaustion. Following the cancellation, the band spent the rest of the year resting and writing new material. The end result is what is called by many, the best album of their career, Nimrod.Nimrod was well recieved by most critics and fans. The album sold 80,000 copies in it's first week to land at #10 on the Billboard charts. The first single from Nimrod was "Hitchin' A Ride". The single made it to #5 on the modern rock charts and was in heavy rotation on MuchMusic and MTV. The next single the band released would not make it to number one (it's highest position was #2), but it is now probably the most well known songs Green Day ever wrote. Featuring Billie Joe on accoustic guitar and vocals, "Time Of Your Life" became the song to play in any remotely sad situation. The song was even used on the last ever episode of the hit TV show Seinfeld (it was also the most watched finale in the history of TV). Along with Seinfeld, the song was also played on E.R on two different shows.

Nimrod has sold about two million copies, the lowest sales total out of their three major label albums, but it probably garnered the band more respect than they could have expected with another Dookie or Insomniac. The band also vastly improved their live show and even one "Best Live Performance" at the Kerrang awards.After nearly two years with barely any mention of the band, Green Day returned in late 1999 to play Neil Young's "Bridge School Benefit Concert", their first live accoustic performance. Green Day began recording their follow-up to "Nimrod" shortly after, which would eventually become "Warning:". Early in the recording process, the band decided to fire their new producer, Scott Litt, and produce the album themselves, marking the first time since "Kerplunk" that anyone but Rob Cavallo produced the bands recording. After they finished recording, Green Day decided to do something else they hadn't done before headline the 2000 Vans Warped Tour.

Green Day played an amazing set and brought more fans to the tour than any other year in Warped's history (their Toronto performance alone attracted 7,000 more fans than they had any other year)."Warning:" was released in the fall of 2000, and is by far Green Day's most ambitious album to date. If its first singles, "Minority" and the album's title track, are any indication, the album could prove to be extremely successful. Just four weeks after the release of "Minority", it sat atop Billboard's Modern Rock chart; no other Green Day song has hit the top that fast.In September of 2004 Green Day released "American Idiot", an album which lashes out against the American government and the media. "American Idiot" was the first Green Day record ever to debut at #1 on the Billboard Charts, and other music charts around the world. The album's title track, was an instant success. The follow up single, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" experienced a must greater success. "American Idiot" was nominated for seven Grammy awards, and took home one, "Best Rock Album".

In August of 2005, Green Day took home 7 Video Music Awards from MTV. Somethin´ about the members...BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONGFULL NAME:Billie Joe Armstrong BIRTHDATE : born February 17, 1972 HOMETOWN : Rodeo, California, USA EYE COLOR : Green NATURAL HAIR COLOR : Reddish Brown HEIGHT : 5'7 MARTIAL STATUS : Married Adrienne Nesser (July 2, 1994)CHILDREN : Joseph Marciano; born in March of 1995, and Jakob Danger; born September of 1998.FAMILY : Billie's father, Andy, died of cancer when he was 10 years old (September 1982). His mom, Ollie, raised him from then on. He has 5 older siblings (David, Allen, Marcy, Holly, and Anna). INSTRUMENTS : Guitar, harmonica, mandolin, drums, piano, and most recently, the saxophone.RECORD COMPANY : Billie and Adrienne have co-ownership of Adeline Records.OTHER BANDS : Billie still plays with Pinhead Gunpowder. He has also played with The Influents, Corrupted Morals, Rancid, the Lookouts, Goodbye Harry, and Blatz.

MIKE DIRNT FULL NAME : Michael Ryan Pritchard (Dirnt) BIRTHDATE : born May 4, 1972 HOMETOWN : Berkeley, California, USA EYE COLOR : Blue NATURAL HAIR COLOR : Brown HEIGHT : 5'10 MARTIAL STATUS : Divorced. CHILDREN : Estelle Desiree (Stella); born April 1997, to ex-wife, Anastasia FAMILY : Mike was adopted. His adoptive parents divorced when he was 7, and both are now remarried. I know Mike has at least one step sister, named Myla, but I don't know of anymore.RESTAURANT : Rudy's Can't Fail Café, in Emeryville, CA. INSTRUMENTS : Bass, farfisa, guitar, drums, and a baseball bat. OTHER BANDS : Mike still plays with The Frustrators. He has also played with the Screeching Weasel, Crummy Musicians, and Squirtgun. Michael Ryan Pritchard, now known as Mike Dirnt, was born on May 4, 1972. Mike's mother was a heroin addict. He was given up for adoption when he was a baby, to a Native american mother and a white father. When he was 7, his adoptive parents got a divorce. Mike lived with his father for awhile, but confrontations sent him back to his mother. He lived there on the borderline of proverty, while his sister left home at the age of 13. "There were all sorts of things happening," says Mike.

"When I was in fourth or fifth grade, my mom stayed out all night, came home the next day with a guy, and he moved in. I'd never met the guy before, and all of a sudden he's my stepdad. We didn't get along for years. Later on, when I hit high school, my mom moved away from us, and me and my stepdad got real close. He instilled a lot in me. The one thing my family did give me is blue-collar morals. But then he died when I was 17." By that point, Mike had already moved out, leaving home when he was 15 to live out of his truck. He then rented a room in Billie's house, and later he lived in a punk squatter building. Billie and Mike began living for their weekends at the Gilman Street Project. Mike still continued to go to school, play in Sweet Children (which later became Green Day of course), and live on his own. He supported himself by working as a cook. Mike almost didn't graduate from high school, because his mother refused to sign one of his mandatory-attendance forms. "I took my mom aside," Mike says.

"I said, 'This is how it is. You have so much shit going on in your life, so if once every semester you ask me if I've done my homework and jump all over my case, that's not right. Have I failed yet? No. And I'm going to graduate if you stay off my back. The one time in your life you chose to have morals, and it's going to fuck me up. Don't play mom once a year. It doens't fucking cut it.'" In the end, Mike did graduate from high school, and he even took more than a year's worth of courses at a community college. Then Billie and Mike moved into a squat in Oakland, California (the inspiration for "Welcome to Paradise"). Mike married his long time girlfriend Anastasia in 1996 and their daughter, Estella-Desiree was born in April 1997. Mike loves his daughter very much, and his nickname for her is "Hero". Today, Mike and Anastasia are separated, but still remain very good friends. He recently was remarried in 2004, however his wife left him because he spending too much time in the studio recording American Idiot. Mike is currently dating, and he resides in Oakland, California. He also owns a café/resturant named Rudy's Can't Fail Café, after a song by the Clash.

The café is located in Emeryville, CA. TRE COOL FULL NAME : Frank Edwin Wright III BIRTHDATE : born December 9, 1972 HOMETOWN : Willits, California, USAEYE COLOR : BlueNATURAL HAIR COLOR : Brown MARTIAL STATUS : Married his long time girlfriend Lisea Lyons in March of 1995. They divorced sometime after. In May 2000, he married Claudia. In 2003, he and Claudia broke up. CHILDREN : Ramona, born January 1995 to ex-wife, Lisea Lyons; Frankito ("Little Frank"), born 2001 to Claudia. FAMILY : Tre grew up with his father and 2 siblings. He now lives in Oakland, California. INSTRUMENTS : Drums, the accordion, and the guitar. OTHER BANDS : Tre has also played with The Lookouts, Sreeching Weasels, and Samiam. Frank Edwin Wright III was born December 9, 1972 in Frankfurt, Germany, making him the youngest member of Green Day. He lived in the Mendocino mountains, California with his dad and his 2 older siblings. His dad, a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, decided the move the family there to insulate them upon his return to the United States. Tre's closest neighbor was none other than Lookout! Records owner Lawrence Livermore, who also owned the punk band the Lookouts.

At age 12, Livermore recruited Tre to join The Lookouts, and that's when Livermore gave him the name of Tre Cool (which means Very Cool in French). After Green Day's first tour around the country (following the release of 39/Smooth), John Kiffmeyer decided to leave Green Day. Looking no farther than Gilman Street, Billie Joe and Mike recruited Tre, who was already a 5 year veteran of the Gilman Street scene. Tre decided to drop out of high school his sophmore year. However, he did pass an equivalency test and earned his GED, and he even began taking classes at a nearby community college. He had to drop out of college however, when the demands of Green Day's touring intensified. Tre's father, who owns a small trucking company, overhauled a used bookmobile, and even served as the driver on three seperate tours. "I watched them go from a bunch of kids to a group of musicians with work ethic," says Tre's father, Frank Wright.

"On their first tour or two, it was more of a party than anything else. I still scratch my head and say, 'How in the hell did they make it?' They used to practice in my living room here -- a lot of the songs they did on Dookie. You hear it coming together, and you don't expect people are going to go out and buy it. But when it does, you just say, 'Wow, that's so cool.'" (Rolling Stone, January 26, 1995) Tre had a daughter named Ramona in January of 1995, then he married his long time girlfriend Lisea Lyons in March. Him and Lisea are divorced now, but Tre remarried in May of 2000, to Claudia. Claudia and him have a son named Frankito, which means "Little Frank". Tre and Claudia divorced in 2003, but they still live together with Frankito in Oakland, California. Recently, Tre has been linked to Donna C., drummer of The Donnas, however they are no longer together.