Self-confessed latch-key kids from small blue-collar Californian towns, Green Day’s story is far from simple: bassist Dirnt was born addicted to heroin and left home at fifteen; singer Billie-Joe was the youngest of six children whose father died when he was young; and drummer Tre Cool was rarely at home and gigging at the age of twelve. Inspired by both the energy of British punk bands like the Sex Pistols and Buzzcocks and cult American bands such as Dead Kennedys and Husker Du, Green Day formed in 1989 when all three members were still at school. Against a backdrop of dodgy glam rock revivalists and mainstream rock-pop, the trio were quickly selling out every underground club that booked them. They toured – constantly. Word spread fast.

Two modest albums down the line, Green Day then signed to Warners and released  their 1994 major label debut Dookie, which was a 10-million-selling worldwide hit album that seized the zeitgest while rock music was still reeling from the death of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain. Many now credit Green Day with saving rock from the hands of a hundred grunge-lite bands. Punk was back on the agenda.

Throughout the Nineties Green Day asserted themselves as (disconcertingly young) godfathers to a new breed of bands such as Sum 41 and Blink-182. They toured the world, headlined all the big festivals, won countless awards and released multi-million selling albums such as Insomniac and Nimrod. Green Day’s music speaks to a generation in a way no other band since Nirvana have been able to. Frontman Billie Joe’s lyrics speak of alienation, boredom and anger without ever resorting to cliché.

In 2004 Green Day reached a career pinnacle with the concept album American Idiot, a sophisticated commentary on modern life. The No. 1 success of American Idiot, extended Green Day’s fanbase even further - from pre-teen kids to previously sceptical critics – making them one of the world’s biggest rock bands.

This book is the world’s first biography on Green Day. An authority on punk and hardcore, Myers charts the band members’ difficult childhoods and their rise to success. The author has also interviewed the band at different stages of their career, including in the midst of a riot in Los Angeles during the making of 2000’s Warning album.

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