Billie Joe Armstrong (born February 17, 1972) is an American musician and actor. He is best known for being the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Green Day, which he co-founded with Mike Dirnt in 1987. He is also a guitarist and vocalist for the punk rock band Pinhead Gunpowder, and provides lead vocals for Green Day’s side projects Foxboro Hot Tubs, the Network, the Longshot and the Coverups. Armstrong has been considered by critics as one of the greatest punk rock guitarists of all time
Armstrong developed an interest in music at a young age, and recorded his first song at the age of five. He met Dirnt while attending elementary school, and the two instantly bonded over their mutual interest in music, forming the band Sweet Children when the two were 14 years old. The band later changed its name to Green Day. Armstrong has also pursued musical projects including numerous collaborations with other musicians.
Early life
Armstrong was born in Oakland, California,[7] on February 17, 1972,[8] the youngest of six children of Ollie Jackson (born 1932)[9] and Andrew Marsicano Armstrong (1928–1982).[10] He was raised in Rodeo, California. His father, a jazz musician and truck driver for Safeway, died of esophageal cancer on September 10, 1982, when Armstrong was 10 years old.[10] The song “Wake Me Up When September Ends” is a memorial to his father. Armstrong has five siblings, including three older sisters, Marci, Hollie, and Anna, and two older brothers, David and Alan. His mother worked as a waitress at Rod’s Hickory Pit in El Cerrito, California, where he and Mike Dirnt later played their first gig in 1987.[10] His great-great-grandparents Pietro Marsicano and Teresa Nigro were Italian immigrants from Viggiano, who settled in Boston prior to relocating to Berkeley, California, in 1869.[11]
In 1989, Green Day released their debut EP 1,000 Hours through Lookout! Records. They recorded their debut studio album 39/Smooth and the extended play Slappy in 1990, which were later combined with 1,000 Hours into the compilation 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours in 1991.
In 1993, Armstrong played live several times with California punk band Rancid. Rancid’s lead singer, Tim Armstrong, asked Billie Joe Armstrong to join his band, but he refused due to his progress with Green Day. However, Billie Joe Armstrong was credited as a co-writer on Rancid’s 1993 song, Radio.
Armstrong collaborated with many artists. He co-wrote the Go-Go’s 2001 song “Unforgiven”. He has also co-written songs with Penelope Houston (“The Angel and The Jerk” and “New Day”), and sung backing vocals with Melissa Auf der Maur on Ryan Adams’ “Do Miss America” (where they acted as the backing band for Iggy Pop on his album Skull Ring (“Private Hell” and “Supermarket”). Armstrong produced an album for the Riverdales. He was part of the Green Day side project the Network from 2003 to 2005, which became active again in 2020. The Network released two albums: 2003’s Money Money 2020 and 2020’s Money Money 2020 Part II: We Told Ya So!.
In 2009, Armstrong formed a band called Rodeo Queens, along with members of Green Day and NYC punk rocker Jesse Malin. They released one song, along with a video, called “Depression Times”.[26]
In 2012, Green Day released a trio of albums: ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré!.[31] In 2013, Armstrong appeared on Season 3 of NBC’s The Voice as an assistant mentor for Christina Aguilera’s team.[32] In 2013, Armstrong and singer-songwriter Norah Jones released the album Foreverly, consisting of covers of songs from The Everly Brothers’ album Songs Our Daddy Taught Us.[33] The first single from the album, “Long Time Gone”, was released on October 23.
Armstrong gave an interview to Rolling Stone in March 2013 in which he said that he had “been trying to get sober since 1997, right around Nimrod”.[42] He discussed how, during the 21st Century Breakdown tour of 2009–2010, “There were meltdowns on that tour that were huge”.[42] Armstrong detailed his addiction, in particular how it had escalated in the months prior to the release of the ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tre! albums and the performance at iHeartRadio, stating that during the band’s 2011 summer tour of Europe, “I was at my pill-taking height at that time, medicating the shit out of myself”.[43] Armstrong gave details of a gig at Irving Plaza in New York just over a week before the iHeartRadio incident, in which he “Threw back four or five beers before we went on and probably had four or five when we played. Then I drank my body weight in alcohol after that. I ended up hungover on the West Side Highway, laying in a little park.”
Armstrong gave an interview to Rolling Stone in March 2013 in which he said that he had “been trying to get sober since 1997, right around Nimrod”.[42] He discussed how, during the 21st Century Breakdown tour of 2009–2010, “There were meltdowns on that tour that were huge”.[42] Armstrong detailed his addiction, in particular how it had escalated in the months prior to the release of the ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tre! albums and the performance at iHeartRadio, stating that during the band’s 2011 summer tour of Europe, “I was at my pill-taking height at that time, medicating the shit out of myself”.[43] Armstrong gave details of a gig at Irving Plaza in New York just over a week before the iHeartRadio incident, in which he “Threw back four or five beers before we went on and probably had four or five when we played. Then I drank my body weight in alcohol after that. I ended up hungover on the West Side Highway, laying in a little park.”[43]
Armstrong in 2013
Armstrong also collaborated with the comedy hip hop group Lonely Island in their song “I Run NY” from The Wack Album released on June 7, 2013.[47] He starred alongside Leighton Meester in the 2014 film Like Sunday, Like Rain.[48] For his work in the film, Bilie Joe won the Breakout Performance Award at the 2014 Williamsburg Independent Film Festival.[49] Armstrong wrote songs for These Paper Bullets, a rock musical adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing, which premiered at Yale Repertory Theater in March 2014.[50]
In November 2014, Armstrong moved with his son Joseph to New York[53] and began working on another acting role, in the film Ordinary World. It was Armstrong’s first lead acting role. The film centers on the mid-life crisis of a husband and father who attempts to revisit his punk past, and was released in 2016. It included new songs written and performed by Armstrong.[54][55] The film got mixed reviews, although Armstrong’s own performance was generally praised, with The Village Voice writing that he had “a low-key charm suggesting that, if he desired it, he could get more onscreen gigs in between albums.
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