Green Day is an American rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of three members: Billie Joe Armstrong (guitar, vocals), Mike Dirnt (bass, backing vocals), and Tré Cool (drums). The band’s name is often mistakenly written as “Greenday.”
Green Day originally emerged from the 924 Gilman Street club project in Berkeley, California. The band’s earliest releases were for an independent record label called Lookout! Records, which brought them their first fans—some of whom felt alienated when the band later signed with a major label.
Their third album, Dookie, became a commercial breakthrough in 1994, selling 10 million copies in the United States (at least 15 million by 2008). This success made Green Day well-known alongside other California punk bands such as The Offspring and Rancid, helping to revive interest in punk rock in the United States. While subsequent albums Insomniac, Nimrod, and Warning did not reach the same level of success as Dookie, they still performed well, earning two platinum and one gold certifications.
In 2004, the band released American Idiot, which brought them back into the spotlight with younger audiences, selling 5 million copies in the United States alone. Overall, Green Day’s albums have sold over 65 million copies worldwide, including 22 million in the United States. The band has also won four Grammy Awards: Best Alternative Album for Dookie, Best Rock Album for American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown, and Song of the Year for “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”
