Billie Joe Armstrong: From Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Billie Joe Armstrong
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Background information
Birth name Billie Joe Armstrong
February 17, 1972 (1972-02-17) (age 37)
Born
Oakland, California, US
Genre(s) Punk rock, pop punk, alternative rock, New Wave, garage rock
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s) Vocals, guitar, piano, bass, drums, harmonica, mandolin, saxophone, banjo
Years active 1986present
Label(s) Reprise, Lookout!, Adeline
Associated acts Green Day, The Network, Pinhead Gunpowder, Foxboro Hot Tubs
Notable instrument(s)
signature Gibson Les Paul Junior
Billie Joe Armstrong (born February 17, 1972, in Oakland, California) is the lead vocalist, main
lyricist and guitarist for the punk rock band Green Day. He is also a guitarist and vocalist for the punk
rock band Pinhead Gunpowder and sings for garage rock band Foxboro Hot Tubs. He was the lead
singer for new wave group The Network.
Contents
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1 Early
life
2
Career
3
Instrum
ents
4
Persona
l life
5
Awards
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Externa
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Early life
Billie Joe Armstrong was born in Oakland and was raised in Rodeo, California, (a town 24
miles north of Oakland), as the youngest of six children.[1] His father, Andy Armstrong,[1]
worked as a drummer and truck driver for Safeway to support the family. He died of cancer
on September 10, 1982 when Armstrong was 10.[1] The song "Wake Me Up When September
Ends", is a memorial to his father. He has five older siblings: David, Alan, Marci, Hollie, and
Anna. His mother Ollie worked at Rod's Hickory Pit.[1] Armstrong and Mike Dirnt got their
first gig at Rod's Hickory Pit during their early years.
Armstrong's interest in music started at a young age. He attended Oakland's Hillcrest
Elementary School, where a teacher encouraged him to record a song titled "Look For Love"
at the age of five on the Bay Area label "Fiat Records".[2][1] After his father died, his
mother married a man whom her children despised, which made Armstrong retreat further
into music. Armstrong dedicated a song to him called "Why Do You Want Him".[1] At age 12
while attending Carquinez Middle School in Crockett, CA, he met Mike Dirnt, and they
immediately bonded over their love of music.[1] As a teenager he originally was into metal
music, but got into punk after hearing the Sex Pistols song "Holidays in the Sun".[3]
Armstrong has also cited The Replacements and Hsker D, both from Minneapolis, as major
influences. He attended John Swett High School, also in Crockett, and then Pinole Valley
High School, in Pinole, CA, dropping out on February 16, 1990, a day before his 18th
birthday, to pursue his musical career.
Career
In 1987, Armstrong formed a band called Sweet Children with childhood friend Mike Dirnt at
the age of 15. In the beginning, Dirnt and Armstrong were both on guitar, with John
Kiffmeyer, also known as Al Sobrante, on drums[4], and Sean Hughes on bass. After a few
gigs and a demo recording (later featured at the end of Green Day's Kerplunk!) Hughes left
the band in 1988. At the same time Dirnt switched to bass and they became a 3-piece band.
They changed their name to Green Day in April 1989, allegedly choosing the name for their
fondness of marijuana.[4] That same year they recorded the EPs 39/Smooth, 1,000 Hours,
and Slappy, later combined into the LP 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours, on Lookout!
Records. Tr Cool eventually replaced Sobrante in late 1990 when he left Green Day in
order to go to college. California Punk band Rancid's lead singer Tim Armstrong asked Billie
Joe to join Rancid, but he refused due to the progress with Green Day. Tr Cool made his
debut on Green Day's second album, Kerplunk!. With their next album, Dookie (1994), the
band broke through into the mainstream, and have remained one of the most popular rock
bands of the 1990s and 2000s with over 60 million records sold worldwide.[5]
Apart from working with Green Day and side-band Pinhead Gunpowder, Armstrong has
proved himself busy in the music world, collaborating with many artists over the years. He
has co-written for The Go-Go's ("Unforgiven") and former Avengers singer Penelope Houston
("The Angel and The Jerk" and "New Day"), co-written a song with Rancid ("Radio"), 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 Skull Ring album ("Private Hell" and
"Supermarket")). Armstrong has produced an album for The Riverdales, and has also been
confirmed to be part of a side project called The Network. The Network released an album
called Money Money 2020. Many Green Day fans who listened to the record remarked the
similarity between the two bands.[citation needed] Money Money 2020 was released on
Adeline Records, a record label co-owned by Armstrong.
Armstrong received his first guitar, a Cherry Red Hohner acoustic, which his father bought
him. He then received his first electric guitar, a Fernandes Stratocaster copy that he named
"Blue", when he was ten. His mother got "Blue" from George Cole who taught Armstrong
electric guitar for ten years. Armstrong says in a 1995 MTV interview, "Basically, it wasn't
like guitar lessons because I never really learned how to read music. So he just taught me
how to put my hands on the thing". George Cole bought the guitar new from David Margen
of the band Santana. Cole gave Armstrong a Bill Lawrence Humbucking pickup and told him
to install the pickup in the bridge position. After the pickup was destroyed at Woodstock,
Armstrong then switched to the Duncan JB model. "Armstrong fetishized his teacher's
guitar, partly because the blue instrument had a sound quality and Van Halen - worthy
fluidity he couldn't get from his little red Hohner. He prized it mostly, however, because of
his relationship with Cole, another father figure after the death of Andy."[6] He toured with
this guitar from the band's early days and into their first few major-label tours. He is again
using it in the 2009 Tour.[7] "Blue" also appears in several of their music videos starting
with "Longview", "Basket Case", "Brain Stew/Jaded", and appearing most recently in
"Minority".
Instruments
Today Armstrong mainly uses Gibson and Fender guitars. Twenty of his Gibson guitars are
Les Paul Junior models from the mid- to late-1950s.[8] His Fender collection includes:
Stratocaster, Jazzmaster, Telecaster, a Gretsch hollowbody and his copies of "Blue". He
states that his favorite guitar is a 1956 Gibson Les Paul Junior he calls "Floyd". He bought
this guitar in 2000 just before recording their album Warning.[9]
Armstrong also has his own line of Les Paul Junior guitars from Gibson. He also often uses
his signature line in more of his recent tours. Armstrong also uses Gretsch guitars.
Personal life
Armstrong after his arrest in January 2003[10]

In 1990, Armstrong met Adrienne Nesser, at one of Green Day's early shows in Mankato,
Minnesota, whom he married on July 2, 1994. The day after their wedding, Adrienne
discovered she was pregnant. Their first child, Joseph 'Joey' Marciano Armstrong, was born
on February 28, 1995 and was named after Joey Ramone. Their second child, Jakob Danger
Armstrong, was born on September 12, 1998. Adrienne is the co-owner of Adeline Records,
along with Armstrong.
Armstrong has identified himself as bisexual; saying in a 1995 interview with The Advocate,
"I think I've always been bisexual. I mean, it's something that I've always been interested in.
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."[11][12]
Armstrong was arrested by Berkeley police in January 2003 for drunk driving after being
pulled over for speeding. He received a breathalyzer reading of 0.18%, more than twice the
California legal limit of 0.08%.[13]
In April 2007, Armstrong and his wife Adrienne sent photos of their spring break working
with Habitat For Humanity and a diary to GreenDay.net.
Armstrong tentatively[14] supported Barack Obama for the 2008 presidential election.[15]
Awards

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Billie Joe Armstrong

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Billie Joe Armstrong

Armstrong after his arrest in January 2003[10]

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