In 1987 a newly formed trio called "Sweet Children", arrived in a local hangout, Rod's Hickory Pit, ready for their first gig. The band consisted of singer/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer John Kiftmeyer . The show was a success as thirty friends show up. Soon after band leader Billie Joe begins some extensive song writing which resulted in a personal performance for Lookout! Records owner Lawrence Livermore. Livermore loved the band and signed them to his label. After the release of a Sweet Children EP on Skene records the band changed their name to Green Day. In 1990 a week away from the release of the bands first full length album, 39/Smooth, Billie Joe quit school and the band booked a full fledge US tour drummer John Kiftmeyer decided his future would be more secure with a college education and had to quit the band. Not long after while driving around one day BJ and Mike picked up a hitch-hiker they recognized from the local punk hangout, 924 Gilmar Street. The hitch-hiker turned out to be drummer Tre Cool of Livermore's band the Lookouts. Apon hearing of their need of a drummer, Tre asked Livermore to allow him to leave his so he could join Green Day,extensive touring and a fan base growing to big to fit in the punk clubs they played in,Green Day, with the blessing of Livermore, began shopping around for a major label. There were reportedly 5 labels who were interested in signing them. The company that most impressed Green Day was Reprise Records whom they felt were the most "down to earth" label. They signed in April of 1993. The result was Dookie, released on January 11, 1994. Put out to an unsuspecting public, Dookie flew up the charts thanks to hits like Longview, Welcome to Paradise, Basket Case and When I Come Around. The surge in popularity made Green Day the featured performers on the Lollapalooza tour, and thanks to the world's biggest mud fight, the most talked about performers at the 25 year reunion festival,Woodstock . Green Day, used to playing to 500 people at punk clubs, had to get used to playing to 10,000 people at every show. Dookie went on to sell around 11 million copies. On October 11, 1995, Green Day released the most anticipated record of the decade,Insomniac. Although the album didn't reach the heights that Dookie reached, It was still a huge success, selling over 6 million albums with the help of songs like Stuck With Me, Geek Stink Breath, 86, Brain Stew and Walking Contradiction. In just 5 years Green Day went from Berkeley nobody's to world famous multi-millionaires.
Billie Joe's real name is just Billie Joe Armstrong!!!He's married to Adrienne Nesser, and their son Joey was born in March, 1995.Mike Dirnt's real name is Michael Pritchard, and he's presently unmarried. He was an adopted child.
Tre Cool's real name is Frank Edwin Wright III, his wife's name is Lisea Lyons, and their daughter Ramona was born January 12, 1995. Al Sobrante used to be in the band. His real name is John Alan Kiffmeyer, and he seems to have dropped off the face of the earth after college; however he has been spotted around Berkeley, supposedly in other underground bands.
Billie first sang Looking for Love when he was just 5 years old! However, the first song he wrote and then recorded was Why Do You Want Him? when he was 12.