Green Day initially started when two best friends, Billie Joe Armstrong (guitar, vocals) and Mike Dirnt (bass), decided to form a band at age fourteen and of course they practiced in their garages. After settling on their drummer, Tre Cool, Green Day became part of the California punk scene and developed a very strong underground fan base. In 1989, they released their first album, 1,000 Hours, and sold enough copies to get the attention of a larger, yet still independent, record label, Reprise. The first album, Dookie, released in the spring of 1994 was a huge hit, thanks to extensive touring and MTV airtime. The album boosted Green Day from the local punk scene to the national eye and they were asked to perform at Woodstock ’94. Green Day stole the show at Woodstock and sold more than 11 million copies of Dookie and won the 1994 Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance.

With their sudden shoot into fame, Green Day followed up with Insomniac in the fall of 1995 and they hit number one on the charts with the single, “J.A.R.” Insomniac sold more than 2 million copies, proving that Green Day had definitely outgrown their underground roots. Trouble wasn’t far away however; in 1996 Green Day abruptly canceled their European tour claiming exhaustion and went into hiding for the rest of the year. The recovery process produced one of Green Day’s most critically acclaimed albums yet, Nimrod. It sold 80,000 copies in the first week and produced perhaps Green Day’s most well known song to date, “Time of Your Life.” The band then began to work on their live performing skills and headed back to tour the US and UK.

Green Day’s tours now consistently sell out in whatever country or venue they play in. In 2000, they headlined for the Vans Warped Tour and brought more fans to the tour than any other year. Currently, Green Day concert tickets sell out within minutes. Apparently all their hard work has paid off; their current tour boasts a set list containing songs from all six of their albums, a fete not easily matched by a three-man band. With the ability now to fill stadiums, Green Day is no longer an underground garage band and they never will be again, they truly are one of the backbones of alternative rock.