Billie Joe Armstrong
Billie Joe Armstrong (born February 17, 1972) is an American musician and actor. He is best known for being the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Green Day, which he co-founded with Mike Dirnt in 1987. He is also a guitarist and vocalist for the punk rock band Pinhead Gunpowder, and provides lead vocals for Green Day's side projects Foxboro Hot Tubs, the Network, the Longshot and the Coverups. Armstrong has been considered by critics as one of the greatest punk rock guitarists of all time.[3][4][5]
Billie Joe Armstrong
February 17, 1972
- Fink
- Wilhelm Fink
- Reverend Strychnine Twitch
- Singer
- musician
- songwriter
- actor
- businessman
2
Steve Nesser (brother-in-law)
- Vocals
- guitar
1987–present
- Green Day
- Pinhead Gunpowder
- the Network
- Foxboro Hot Tubs
- the Coverups
- the Longshot
- the Armstrongs
- the Boo
- the Upside Downers
Armstrong developed an interest in music at a young age, and recorded his first song at the age of five. He met Dirnt while attending elementary school, and the two instantly bonded over their mutual interest in music, forming the band Sweet Children when the two were 14 years old. The band later changed its name to Green Day. Armstrong has also pursued musical projects including numerous collaborations with other musicians.
Armstrong's business ventures include founding Adeline Records to help support other bands in 1997, coinciding with the release of Nimrod. Adeline signed acts such as the Frustrators, AFI, and Dillinger Four. The record company shut down two decades later in August 2017.[6] Armstrong also co-founded Punk Bunny Coffee (formerly Oakland Coffee Works) in 2015.
Early life
Armstrong was born in Oakland, California,[7] on February 17, 1972,[8] the youngest of six children of Ollie Jackson (born 1932)[9] and Andrew Marsicano Armstrong (1928–1982).[10] He was raised in Rodeo, California. His father, a jazz musician and truck driver for Safeway, died of esophageal cancer on September 10, 1982, when Armstrong was 10 years old.[10] The song "Wake Me Up When September Ends" is a memorial to his father. Armstrong has five siblings, including three older sisters, Marci, Hollie, and Anna, and two older brothers, David and Alan. His mother worked as a waitress at Rod's Hickory Pit in El Cerrito, California, where he and Mike Dirnt later played their first gig in 1987.[10] His great-great-grandparents Pietro Marsicano and Teresa Nigro were Italian immigrants from Viggiano, who settled in Boston prior to relocating to Berkeley, California, in 1869.[11]
Armstrong attended Hillcrest Elementary School in Rodeo, where a teacher encouraged him to record a song titled "Look for Love" at the age of five[12] on the Bay Area label Fiat Records.[10][13] After his father died, his mother married a man whom her children disliked, which resulted in Armstrong's further retreat into music. At the age of 10, he met future bandmate Mike Dirnt in the school cafeteria, and they immediately bonded over their love of music.[10] He became interested in punk rock after being introduced to the genre by his brothers.[14] He has cited Van Halen, Ramones, The Replacements, and Hüsker Dü as musical influences. The first concert he ever attended was Van Halen in 1984. After Hillcrest Elementary, Armstrong attended Carquinez Middle School and John Swett High School, both in Crockett, California, and later transferred to Pinole Valley High School in Pinole, California. On his 18th birthday, he dropped out to pursue a musical career.