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Billie Joe Armstrong

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Billie Joe Armstrong
File:Billiejoeblonde.jpg
Armstrong, lead vocalist of Green Day.
Background information
OriginRodeo, California
Years active1988 to Present Day (With Green Day)

Billie Joe Armstrong (born February 17, 1972) is the main songwriter, lead vocalist, and guitarist for punk-rock band Green Day.

Media:Example.ogg Armstrong is the youngest of six children born in Oakland, California, and raised in Rodeo, California. His father, Andy, was a jazz musician and truck driver who died of cancer in the esophagus when Armstrong was ten. His mother was a waitress at Rod's Hickory Pit, where Billie and his friends Mike Dirnt and Brandon O'Lech worked during their teen years. Rod's Hickory Pit was where Armstrong and his band Sweet Children performed their first gig. He insists that his name is spelled with an 'ie' because, according to the liner notes in 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours, his mother was under the influence of drugs (painkillers) while giving birth to him. He is the only member of Green Day who uses his given name, as the other two members, Mike Pritchard (Mike Dirnt) and Frank Edwin Wright III (Tré Cool), have switched to shorter nicknames.

Armstrong married Adrienne Nesser on July 2, 1994. Together, they are co-founders and part owners of the independent label Adeline Records, to which he has a side band called Pinhead Gunpowder with Green Day second guitarist Jason White which is on Lookout! Records. Armstrong has also worked as a producer, most notably in a co-production with noted punk producer Mass Giorgini of Chicago punk legends the Riverdales. He has two sons, Joseph Marciano (b. March 1995), and Jakob Danger (b. September 1998). He is also a member of the band The Network, along with the rest of the members of Green Day.

In a January 1995 interview with The Advocate, Armstrong stated that he is bisexual:

"I think I've always been bisexual. I mean, it's something that I've always been interested in. I think everybody kind of fantasizes about the same sex. I think people are born bisexual, and it's just that our parents and society kind of veer us off into this feeling of 'Oh, I can't'. They say it's taboo. It's ingrained in our heads that it's bad, when it's not bad at all. It's a very beautiful thing."

In 2002 rumours had been circling that Billie Joe had died in a tragic car accident, until a statement on Green Day.net cleared things up. In 2004 he was placed first in Kerrang! magazine for sexiest rock star by guys. He recently switched from his usual black hair to bright blond (as of 3/19/06 it has been turned back to black)

Billie's Guitars

Billie Joe received his first guitar at age 10, a Fernandes Stratocaster copy, nicknamed "Blue", which he received from his dad before he died. Billie Joe still uses "Blue", as well as Fender replicas that have the same duct tape and sticker covered appearance with the initials "BJ" written in red ink. The bridge pickup on all of his blue Stratocasters has been replaced with a Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck humbucker. He sometimes still uses replicas of "Blue" at concerts. "Blue" was used in some of their most popular music videos including "Basket Case", "Brain Stew/Jaded (Green Day)", "Geek Stink Breath", and "Stuck With Me", and can be seen getting covered with mud in the Woodstock '94 video. He can also sometimes be seen playing a modified '72 black Fender Telecaster Custom with a white pickguard. The bridge pickup has been replaced with a Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck Humbucker, similar to his Stratocasters. Billie Joe can be seen playing the Telecaster in the video for "Nice Guys Finish Last". He now uses several customized Gibson Les Paul models, including a Les Paul Junior. The Telecaster and Les Paul's channel switch located on the top of the guitar has been removed and covered with tape so that it does not interfere with his strumming. Billie Joe's custom models will be on sale starting in late 2006. Other instruments that Armstrong can play include the bass guitar, drums, harmonica, mandolin, piano and the saxophone.

Green Day's Early Years

File:Bille joe armstrong, from 1991.jpg
Armstrong in early Green Day concert

Billie Joe recorded his first song (Look for Love) when he was five. In 1986, he wrote his first song entitled Why Do You Want Him. This song was written when he was fourteen years old, about his step-father, whom he did not like. The song appears on Green Day's debut album on Lookout! Records, 39/Smooth.

During his stay in school, he was nicknamed "Two Dollar Bill", because he was supplying the school with joints for two dollars. In 1988, Armstrong formed a band called Sweet Children with childhood friend Mike Dirnt, and Al Sobrante (b. John Kiffmeyer). They changed their name to "Green Day" in March 1989, prior to the release of their first EP, 1,000 Hours, on Lookout! Records. The name was their slang expression for a day of pot smoking - they watched TV while being stoned and Ernie (from Sesame Street) used the term "Green Day", and it became an inside joke. In 1990, Sobrante left Green Day for college and was replaced by Tré Cool (born Frank Edwin Wright III), who appears on Green Day's second album, Kerplunk!.

Billie and Friends

Apart from working with Green Day, 'The Network' and Pinhead Gunpowder, Billie has proved himself to be somewhat of a busy boy in the music world, as he has managed to get involved in some very interesting collaborations with other artists over the years. He has co-written for the Go-gos ("Unforgiven"), Penelope Houston, former singer with The Avengers ("The Angel and The Jerk" and "New Day"), written a song for Rancid ("Radio"), sung backing vocals with Melissa Auf Der Maur on Ryan Adam's "Do Miss America" and recorded lead guitar with Green Day for two tracks, where they acted as the backing band for Iggy Pop on his "Skull Ring" album ("Private Hell" and "Supermarket"). His next project is a duet with Elvis Costello for a VH1 special.

Billie Joe is also a playable character in the video game, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, and "Holiday" is part of the game's soundtrack.

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