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Every Green Day quote in the archive, newest additions first — all 414 of them.

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“Britney Spears makes it cool for hot girls to marry double-divorcé dads of two like me.”
Tré Cool
“We were staying in Copenhagen and this guy comes up to us after the show and he's like, 'Come over to my house and you can meet my roommate, Sleepy.' So we were like, 'OK, we'll go meet Sleepy.' So we go over to his house and get in our sleeping bags and get ready to crash out. And then all of a sudden, he rolls in this formaldehyde tank with a human head inside of it. And he's like, 'This is my friend, Sleepy.'”
Billie Joe Armstrong · MuchMusic
“You know what the best thing about San Francisco is? You can see Oakland from it.”
Mike Dirnt · MuchMusic
“Have you ever ate a clump of a woman's period before?”
Billie Joe Armstrong · MuchMusic
“There should be a law against lip syncing. Anybody who can't play live should be either strung up or have their musical talent revoked.”
Mike Dirnt · MuchMusic
“Oakland is like the Detroit of San Francisco.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · MuchMusic
“I tried my hand at two Sonic Youth records. I had one given to me and I bought two and... I'd be damed if they made more than one spin.”
Mike Dirnt · MuchMusic
“Now that we're off camera, do you want to talk about dick, too?”
Tré Cool · MuchMusic
“At one point, we were in Europe and we slept in this gal’s house. And upstairs, in a room, everyone’s piled in there, it was a small room and we were literally piled almost two high across the entire room. And her brother had shot himself in there. He was playing around, playing Russian roulette, joking around. And it was like, 'Go upstairs and sleep, just stay off the carpet.'”
Mike Dirnt · MuchMusic
“We have a completely mixed audience, all age groups, from teenagers to 60-year-olds. ”
Tré Cool · laut.de, 2009
“Tré can mold various pocket pussies out of balloons! Beautiful.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · laut.de, 2009
“The sheer volume of 'blah blah' takes the wind out of the sails of real anger. It just gets lost when everyone says, 'I'm so angry!' Why are you angry because you were overlooked in the queue at McDonalds?!”
Mike Dirnt · laut.de, 2009
“Performers and artists kind of have a hole within themselves that they're constantly seeking to fill. They have a void in their lives. Of course, we all fill it with music. But for some people music isn't enough, or they don't think it's enough. And so they spiral downward. And sometimes they spiral all the way down.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Nylon Guys, 2012
“I think having money, it's kind of mixed emotions about it. The imposter syndrome or something like that. We come from such broke backgrounds – like, my dad was a truck driver and my brother's a plumber. My older brother was a custodian, so very working class background. To have compared to when I had not... it's just been sort of a trip.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · The Howard Stern Show, 2019
“It seemed like when the Starman left this Earth, all the mad men came in and started to destroy everything.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Kerrang, Jan 2024
“I waited a lot of years to write songs that were about straight-up politics. There’s no new girlfriends in my life to write about, y'know? So in a lot of ways I had to sort of put myself in a vulnerable position of writing about politics and the things I believe in.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · 2005
“Anything that has to do with competition, I think, 'Oh, we're just gonna lose.'”
Billie Joe Armstrong · 2005 VMAs
“Adrienne was taking a human sexuality class and she started talking to me about this class. And for a kid that's 18, some woman that's about 20, 21 years old talking to you about her human sexuality class... well, our conversations got pretty long.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“We're best friends, basically brothers. Mike's children have always called me Uncle Billie.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Spiegel, 25 Sep 2012
“If I were to die now, I want my wife and sons to be proud of me. That’s what my dad did. He was a hard worker. He enjoyed life and did his best to make the bad parts good.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Crossbeat, Aug 2000
“We definitely come from a working-class background. We represent people who work hard.”
Tré Cool · Crossbeat, Jan 1996
“Everyone has their opinions. If people want to talk shit about us, that’s fine. But I don’t think I ever sold my soul.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Crossbeat, Jan 1996
“I never imagined that our music would be so widely accepted. The situation we’re in now all things we never even dreamed of. People ask me, ‘You dreamed of this, didn’t you?’ I tell them, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. I never dreamed of this.’”
Mike Dirnt · Crossbeat, Jan 1996
“Music is all about sharing the power and love for music with others. If you don’t share it, you’re not having the full experience.”
Mike Dirnt · Crossbeat, Jan 1996
“Music is something that everyone can enjoy, and it should never be divided into groups by ages or anything like that. With the kinds of records we’ve put out, isn’t it natural that all kinds of people come to see us?”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Crossbeat, Jan 1996
“The feeling I get when I work with Billie and Mike is something that can’t be put into words. For example, when we write a new song and perform it, I feel a sense of joy that I’m part of it, and the three of us are united in spirit. Even when we’re jamming with other people, I’m always thinking, ‘Ugh, give me a break.'”
Tré Cool · Crossbeat, Sep 1997
“I’d like to study jazz, or Latin, salsa, other kinds of music. Not by playing it myself, but by listening and broadening my musical knowledge.”
Tré Cool · Crossbeat, Sep 1997
“If you think too much about rock ’n’ roll, you end up with a big head and a lot of self-consciousness.”
Mike Dirnt · Crossbeat, Sep 1997
“I played jazz for a while before joining Green Day. In the jazz band, I was constantly told to ‘play quieter,’ but then I was being told to ‘play harder and six times louder!’ Also, in jazz, you’re told to ‘play more,’ but in rock, you’re told to ‘play one beat at a time,’ which is the complete opposite of how I play, so it took me a while to get used to it. But I kept playing and I made it.”
Tré Cool · Crossbeat, May 1998
“Even when I was homeless and starving, I didn’t sell my drums. I had no home, but I had my drums. Those drums kept me going.”
Tré Cool · Crossbeat, May 1998
“Basically, our first drummer said, ‘Believe in music,’ but he didn’t really believe in it. He couldn’t even bring himself to tell his mom that he wasn’t going to college and that he wanted to pursue music professionally. Or maybe he really just didn’t believe in music that much. In the end, I guess he wanted a stable life. It had already been proven that punk music would never be popular with the general public anyway… and now he’s doing well for himself.”
Mike Dirnt · Crossbeat, May 1998
“Billie and me both wanted to be the class clown. He intrigued me because he could play the guitar. I’d finally found someone who’d listen to all my stupid jokes, and we became best friends. Before that, I played the piano a bit, but I wasn’t doing anything special. But Billie taught me how to play the guitar, and it worked. ”
Mike Dirnt · Crossbeat, May 1998
“Music was always an escape for me. It was another world where I could just channel all my anger through the bass, and that would fit perfectly into the melodies that Billie wrote. ”
Mike Dirnt · Crossbeat, May 1998
“When we play our last song, we don’t want to scream at the crowd. We want to feel a sense of unity with them.”
Mike Dirnt · Crossbeat, May 2001
“I’ve always thought that writing songs and only playing them for yourself is half of the story. Performing those songs for others is the other half. Playing in front of people gives you that fear and adrenaline rush that makes you want to do it again. The first song you play live is always the scariest. And then there’s the fun of overcoming that fear. It’s incredible to overcome it every night.”
Mike Dirnt · Crossbeat, May 2001
“Even if your life is shit and people are telling you what you can and can’t do, you can still come to our show, let your hair down and have fun.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Crossbeat, May 2001
“If any one of us said we didn’t want to do this anymore, it would be the end of Green Day. Working with each other is just too natural for us. If that changed… it’d all be over.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Crossbeat, May 2001
“Back in the day, I think it was on the Kerplunk Tour, we had a show booked in New Jersey. I remember arriving there and there were 1,100 people there, even though we’d never played New Jersey before. I was really surprised. That’s how we did it – we just toured a lot. People always ask us, ‘How did you make it?’ But we just spread the word little by little. We toured a lot, and toured a lot, and toured some more. We loved playing, so that gave us a positive attitude towards our work.”
Mike Dirnt · Crossbeat, May 2001
“Basket Case still reminds me so much of the Ashby house. That's the house we lived in, in Berkeley and our first video, Longview, was filmed there. We'd be cranking that song out in there, all of us playing in this one tiny room and our neighbours getting pissed because we'd play it five times in a row.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Kerrang, Jun 2005
“There's a police station on 12th Street in Oakland. After I got charged with a DUI, I had to do a whole bunch of paperwork there to satisfy my community service requirement.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Guitar Legends, 2005
“In the old days, the zoot-suit guys used to jingle their change, and this was their spot. Jingletown has been held down by Latino families for 50 years. And then there's us.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Spin Magazine, Nov 2004
“I didn't think I'd even be alive at 29, let alone be still making music and be in a band at this age.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Kerrang, Oct 2001
“I'm old now. I can only do fuck time once.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Onstage in Oakland, CA, 22 Sep 2011
“When we recorded at RAK Studios, I wore the same clothes for every single song – including the same socks. I’d walk to the studio, and I genuinely would dress smart and wear a suit, because it’s London. But then I’d hang my stuff up and get changed, and put on my lucky socks, my lucky pants, and the same shirt. I wore the same shit for all those sessions.”
Tré Cool · Kerrang, 2024
“Billie says that this is our high school band, which it is. But what I take from it too is that our fans have grown up listening to us just the same as we’ve grown up. People say, ‘I grew up listening to your band,’ and I’m like, ‘So did I!’”
Mike Dirnt · Vulture, 2024
“Someone said to me the other day, ‘Your band is my childhood.’ And I said, ‘It’s my childhood, too!’”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Vulture, 2024
“America is not supposed to be about the cult of personality; we’re supposed to be about a group of people who are making laws that would make the American people’s lives easier and affordable. Getting good jobs, getting good health care, protecting people from corporations taking advantage of them. I feel like we are completely lost on that, the real American ideal.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Vulture, 2024
“The Beatles have always been a prominent influence for us. They lived the dream that we later lived, they paved the way for us. I love all these British rockers anyway, The Who, The Animals, The Kinks, I'm also really into glam rock. The Sweet are just awesome and I could listen to David Bowie all day”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“I like being a normal person. I like being someone that just lives in a community and has good friends and strong relationships that are based on the same life experience that we’re all going through. Then I'll play a gig in front of a hundred thousand people and I go, 'Holy shit!' That doesn’t get old.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“I do pray. I try and think of something out there that is a higher power, just to make sure I’m keeping my ego in check.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Esquire, 2024
“I'm obsessed with music. I just am. If I wasn’t in a big band, I would be working at a record store or teaching guitar lessons or doing anything to support my musical habit.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Esquire, 2024
“I’m one of six kids. I'm the youngest. It was loud. Everybody was funny. Everything seemed pretty much like a normal big family, whatever that means. But then that dynamic really switched when my father passed away when I was ten.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Esquire, 2024
“We ask for what we think we deserve. With every album, I think our value increases a bit.”
Mike Dirnt · 1998
“I’ve always loved the Van Morrison and U2 songs ‘Gloria’ - one being a celebration of womanhood and the other a celebration of God, which is kind of the same thing.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“One thing that both me and Billie can relate to is what happens if you are brought up in a house full of women. It opens your eyes real quick and shows you a sense of respect for the world.”
Mike Dirnt
“The worst thing you could ever do to music fans is give them what they want.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Instagram, 2020
“We're sitting on the curb in Lisbon and we're just drinking and talking together. [Dave Grohl] said, ‘I’m sorry, I've got the spins.’ I said, ‘Dude, just make yourself throw up!’ He said, ‘YOU make yourself throw up.’ I said ‘OK,’ so I made myself puke. He said, ‘Oh my God, you're disgusting!’”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Radio X
“I would describe Bono's singing as 50 percent Guinness, 10 percent cigarettes — and the rest is religion. He's a physical singer, like the leader of a gospel choir, and he gets lost in the melodic moment. He goes to a place outside himself, especially in front of an audience, when he hits those high notes. That's where his real power comes from — the pure, unadulterated Bono. He talks about things he believes in, whether it's world economics or AIDS relief in Africa. But the voice always comes first. That's where his conviction lies.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Rolling Stone, 2008
“I used to go to clown school. As you can imagine, you learn all kinds of skills there. Unicycling, among other things. During a performance, I fell off the stage on one of those unicycles and landed hard on the saddle. Part of my testicle slipped into my body and was never seen again. Farewell, testicle! Hey, at least it's still there, and the one I still have is really pretty!”
Tré Cool · laut.de, 2009
“If there's one thing I can't understand, it's this habit of constantly taking videos and photos with cell phones everywhere. You're on stage and you only see phones. I always say, ‘Go on, take a few pictures and then put the damn thing away and let's finally dance and have fun.’ I mean – that's what we're here for!”
Billie Joe Armstrong · laut.de, 2009
“If there's one band I hate, it's fucking Slipknot with their ridiculous masks. My God, I can hardly contain myself... a nine-person pile of shit.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · laut.de, 2009
“It was just time to go in a different direction when someone introduced us to Butch Vig. He's a really nice guy, a good boy – and we knew that he could handle the American Idiot follow-up. He had the courage to do it. He brought us calmness, self-confidence and class and helped us keep track of all the ideas. He loves music so much, it's amazing.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · laut.de, 2009
“We're generally very impatient people and had to hold back a lot so we didn't throw out any quick shots straight after American Idiot – ten songs in three weeks. But we wanted to know how much we were capable of musically. Waiting for a song to develop is the hardest thing of all.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · laut.de, 2009
“In the best way, it's humbling to be surrounded by people who know you so well. You have to get used to the fact that you definitely won't be treated like a rock star at home – it's a bit of a blow to your ego at first, but then it's very liberating.”
Mike Dirnt · laut.de, 2009
“I was in Cuba after American Idiot. I took conga lessons for a while. You mix the conga and cymbal parts together... it was fucking hard! Just another weapon in the arsenal in case I ever need to pick up women who are impressed by it.”
Tré Cool · laut.de, 2009
“We weren't allowed to play 924 Gilman Street for a while because we signed with a major label with Dookie. They only support young bands, which is cool, you have to accept that. Jello Biafra from the Dead Kennedys once had both of his legs broken there because he was supposedly a sellout...”
Billie Joe Armstrong · laut.de, 2009
“LA is really OK for a vacation. There are some really good beaches and you can have a good time. But large parts of it, like Hollywood, they're just not real places. It's more like a run-down Disneyland, only with more silicon. We're Californians, but we prefer Berkeley and Oakland.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · laut.de, 2009
“You can scare yourself with ambition – having the audacity to want to be as good as John Lennon or Paul McCartney or Joe Strummer. There has been so much great shit before me I feel like a student. Who the fuck do I think I am? But you have to battle past that. It's the people who are overconfident who are the ones putting out the biggest piles of shit. If you're at that place where you're working hard but don't feel like you know what you're doing anymore, then you're on to something.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Rolling Stone, 2009
“A lot of assholes from the Bay Area, they fucking split and go to a shithole called fucking Hollywood. I’m staying in Oakland, baby.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Onstage in Mountain View, CA, 4 Sep 2010
“No matter what, there is always a repercussion with everything you do. If we put a record out that sounded like Dookie critics would say that we're a one-trick pony and thanks for another mediocre punk rock record. But now that we've changed, people think we're soft and going away from our punk rock roots.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Rolling Stone, January 2001
“It would be stupid for me to slag the current music scene. Things are so bad now they're not even offensive. How can I slag NSYNC? That would be like beating up a 13-year-old girl.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Revolver, 2000
“Punk rock had already been proven that it couldn't be popular. We were playing punk shows and just doing our thing. We had no clue whatsoever that it could go as far as it did. But when it got to the point where we thought it could, we either had to get bigger or break up.”
Mike Dirnt · The Ticket, November 1997
“Playing songs for people sends energy to the crowd. And then they send it right back to you, and it's a blast.”
Tré Cool · The Ticket, November 1997
“Woodstock was supposed to celebrate something, but instead it was total chaos, total anarchy, people shivering in the cold, covered in mud, pissing themselves. I told them they were total morons.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Tutto Musica, 1995
“We like the music we make because it captures the true spirit of rock: escaping from the everyday trappings of work, school, religion and politics.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Tutto Musica, 1995
“We already knew about Tre Cool. The first time we saw him play, he was wearing a ballet tutu and had one of those old lady swimming caps with flowers on his head, but he was rocking it. As soon as I saw him on the streets with his drums, backpack and suitcase, I immediately thought it was a sign. And then he had an amazing bag of weed, and that first day instantly became a glorious Green Day.”
Mike Dirnt · Tutto Musica, 1995
“I was hitchhiking and I had everything I owned with me: clothes, drums, everything. A van with a hole in it stopped. They’d just fired the old drummer. For me it was a godsend: in a flash I had a job and two great friends to make music with and travel the world. So to all those idiots who tell you not to hitchhike... you don’t know anything!”
Tré Cool · Tutto Musica, 1995
“I come from the school of Pete Townsend and The Replacements. Although when I was 13 I saw an REM concert which totally inspired me to form a band.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Tutto Musica, 1995
“I wanted to get out of a shithole town where you had to kill someone or dye your hair blue to be noticed. I wanted to go to other cities, other states, other countries, and take Mike along with me.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Tutto Musica, 1995
“We had one lady walk into the bookmobile. We were smoking so much weed. She walks in, and she's standing there for a second. She looks and goes, ‘Oh! This isn't a bookmobile, is it?’ She got all the way into the vehicle in a cloud of smoke.”
Mike Dirnt · Stuff Magazine, 2004
“We grew up in the same suburban town. If you wanted to hear music, you had to play it, because we didn't have a record store in town. We were little kids and we had no way to get money – our parents were counting every dime, you know – but we saved up ourselves and Billie Joe got a guitar and played stuff. Then I started savin' like crazy. It took me a while, but I learned to play guitar and then I finally got one... it was the funnest thing we ever could do.”
Mike Dirnt · RIP Magazine, 1994
“I’m not exactly sure how many kids I have, but yes, I do miss them officially, for the record. In case any of them are listening, I love you.”
Tré Cool
“Being a parent is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my whole life.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Spin Magazine, 1995
“You are only allowed to use the word 'hella' if you're from East Bay Area. I’m serious! No-one else in California is allowed! It was invented from Oakland through Crockett, CA. Got it? Good! Damn it!”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Instagram
“Just look at Tre's hair! What’s not to love about THAT?! I wanna have sex with that haircut!”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Instagram
“Guitar wankers are a dime-a-dozen, but I think I have a guitar sound that people can recognise.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“The person I’m most proud of in my family is my father. A guy always on picket lines and in protests, always on the streets with workers. He wasn’t a soldier or a punk. He was a man who wanted to do the right thing, for his Billie Joe.”
“Life isn’t perfect, it’s better than that. If you can survive through some of this stuff, you find out who you really are. Whether it’s drug addiction, or losing a family member, or dealing with someone who’s got some serious personality issues.”
“While we were off, I started to see some people and took some bass lessons. I like to play a lot of jazz. In fact, that’s how I came up with Longview, playing a jazz thing one day.”
Mike Dirnt
“I think when I saw the American Idiot musical come to life onstage, on Broadway, to hear our album brought to life in a different way, that was probably one of my most moving musical moments.”
“I think my first musical memory was probably when I was about four and a half years old. I wanted to learn how to play guitar but my hands were a little too small… so I had to settle for the piano.”
“My mom had a roommate who was a guitar player, he’d show me how to play a couple of things here and there. Then lo and behold, I have a sleepover at Billie’s house, he says let’s learn some songs together and the next day we had a sort of band.”
“I think anybody who says rock ‘n' roll can’t change lives is full of shit. Because it can. It changed mine.”
“I think my role is to shut up and listen… A lot of white people should shut up and listen. They really don’t know what the African-American experience truly is. When you have people getting shot in their cars for no reason and being put in fucking jail cells and it’s for profit, we have a serious problem, and the first thing you need to do is get educated. Don’t try to do this, like, ‘Blue lives matter.’ Don’t try to do the ‘All lives matter.’ Just shut up and listen to the experience. And then move forward after that.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“With Warning I wanted to start saying things in songs that I could be really proud of – that wasn’t just songs about masturbation. I mean, that’s significant, too…”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Q Magazine, 2009
“Where we come from, people were telling us, don’t change, don’t change, don’t change. Y'know, I’ve been the same guy for so fucking long I don’t need them to tell me anymore. I know who I am.”
Mike Dirnt
“We were playing in Dublin the other night and there were a lot of bras being thrown. I said, 'I’ve never seen so many bras before.' As soon as I said that some guy’s boxer shorts ended up flying right into my hand.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Q Magazine, January 2010
“I feel most powerful when I’m able to use my words as weapons rather than a Molotov cocktail.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“I can be Mister Wright or Mister Cool. I’m either the man that your woman’s been looking for her whole life or the guy that you wish you were.”
Tré Cool · Q Magazine, 2012
“The Tube system is difficult and I’m not down with warm beer.”
Tré Cool · On what he’ll never understand about the British, in Q Magazine, Sep 2017
“Our shows are really fun and jovial and can also be pretty spiritual. Just let yourself go. And this is a place where every weirdo, every anxiety-prone, awkward human being can come and feel at home.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · The Zane Lowe Show, 10 Apr 2016
“I think I’ll always have that teenage awkwardness – the most awkward guy in a crowded room of people. I’m pretty socially inept.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · The Zane Lowe Show, 10 Apr 2016
“A lot of people thought I was being tongue-in-cheek when I wrote Basket Case, but it was no, this is pretty much a diary!”
Billie Joe Armstrong · The Zane Lowe Show, 10 Apr 2016
“I think feeling nervous, or having anxiety, or something like that - I mean, I feel everything. And I think when you’re playing live, it kind of plays itself out - and it’s like wow, this is life. Life is awkward and unpredictable. And I think that’s one of the most beautiful things about it.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · The Zane Lowe Show, 10 Apr 2016
“A protest song has to come from the same place as a love song.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · The Zane Lowe Show, 10 Apr 2016
“Green Day for me has always been those moments of clarity. You can do all the drugs you want and drink all the booze you want, but when a band is at their best it’s when they’re clear-headed.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · The Zane Lowe Show, 10 Apr 2016
“I’ve learned to kind of use anxiety in a positive way. You definitely get a bit whiny, but it’s better than bottling it up. At least now I know I’ll wake up alive.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · The Zane Lowe Show, 10 Apr 2016
“Sometimes if you’re ignorant about something it’s sort of a virtue, because it makes you curious about what’s going on. I think that’s what I do in my songs, just stay curious.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · The Zane Lowe Show, 10 Apr 2016
“We live in a society where nothing is sacred. I was coming out of the hotel just two days ago in Los Angeles and there’s guys out there with cameras. The first thing I thought was, 'Thank God I don’t live in Los Angeles!' People just want to fuck you.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“Mike’s broken his teeth, his elbow, busted his head open and had a beer bottle smashed over his head. In fact, he’s done everything other than die.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · FHM, Jan 2001
“When I asked one teacher to sign my drop-out form, he didn’t even know who I was.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · FHM, Jan 2001
“I met Mike in fifth grade, when we were ten. He was the class comedian and he would come round to make these funny tapes, where we would mess around and pretend to be on a radio station.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · 2001
“I’m not royalty. I’m the king of nothing. I’m in the same high school rock ’n’ roll band I’ve been in since I was 16.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · New York Times, 2016
“I get into Instagram, and the next thing I know, someone will say, it’s all about Snapchat now! It’s like, oh God, leave me in the Stone Age — I got one foot in the Stone Age and the millennium right now.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · New York Times, 2016
“Green Day records in general are about feeling kind of lost, and a bit stupid, in the midst of chaos and media and everything that’s changed.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · New York Times, 2016
“Support new bands, they’re the future. They’re the future of punk and rock ‘n' roll. No matter what. You hear people that get jaded and they think things were better back a long time ago, or whatever – not true!”
Billie Joe Armstrong · KROQ, Oct 2016
“I think punk is a lot more than just anger, and rage. It’s like the weirdo that gets to find their voice for the first time. It could be someone that wants to have their own fanzine, and write about things they believe in, and despite the odds, do it anyway.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · New York Times, 2016
“We’re currently building a clone army and we’re going to send them off to different continents to play Green Day shows for us. We haven’t quite gotten the Mike down yet. He has very complex DNA.”
Tré Cool · Loudwire, 2016
“My wife won’t allow Green Day to be played at home.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Q Magazine, 2011
“I was a terrible student. I just wasn’t focused. I also had a mullet. The most embarrassing haircut I’ve ever had.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“The first time I ever wore eyeliner was 1990 ‘cause I thought I looked cool, like Mike Ness from Social Distortion.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Kerrang
“We wrote pop music, or real poppy sort of punk rock, and we kept doing it regardless of what anybody ever said in the punk scene, because that within itself is punk rock. There was all these people playing this aggresive music, and we were outcasts in the punk scene. People talked shit about us there because our music was too poppy and girls liked to come see us play. Which is ridiculous.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“I think everybody should get married. Boys and girls. Girls and boys. Boys and boys! Girls and girls! Shouldn’t we all be entitled to a family? Civil rights baby, it’s civil rights.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Onstage in Berkeley, Apr 16 2013
“Billie never drove, ever. Maybe once, for about fifteen minutes or something. He wasn’t good at it. He was only good at whining and pissing in a Gatorade bottle in the back of the van.”
Tré Cool · On touring in the early days
“Right before Dookie came out, I was really at odds with myself. I was like, man, do I really want to do this? A lot of the time I was thinking about suicide, how it’s so easy to kill yourself, but so hard to stay alive. I was in a break-up with my then-girlfriend, a total, raving punk rocker who didn’t approve of me being on a major label. She moved down to Ecuador, saying she couldn’t live in a world with McDonald’s and such. It was fucking me up pretty bad.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Spin Magazine, 1995
“I ran into Joe Strummer at an airport once. His band was playing in Minnesota and I was pushing a baby carriage. I was there to go visit my family. There he was standing right behind me so I turned around. He talked to my son Joey. He was saying, 'Oh, my name’s Joey too.' That was pretty amazing.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“I think we’re the first ones to yell at each other, but we’re also the first ones to be there when the other’s life is totally falling apart.”
Mike Dirnt
“People ask, ‘Why are you doing this?’ And basically, it’s because I fucking want to.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“I like to keep my girlish figure.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“When Joey was little, he always pulled down his pants everywhere he went. He would not stop. I told him to stop one day and said if he did it one more time, a snake would pop out and eat his thing off.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“[Lady Gaga] had this outfit on – she had so much shit on her when she walked by! She couldn’t move her arm because she was going on to do her performance, and it was like shaking hands with someone in a cast. She had this handler that was like, 'Don’t touch the costume! Don’t touch the costume!' She said something about how she loved Dookie so much she used to lick the pages. I thought it was really cool.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Out Magazine
“I just got attacked by a pigeon!”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Twitter, 18 Feb 2011
“I am trying to put on guyliner with my feet.”
Tré Cool · Twitter, 27 Oct 2009
“Subjects in songs become more complex in time. What used to be one muse or subject can become many.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Twitter, 12 Feb 2011
“Punk rock has been rather queer since the beginning.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Out Magazine, 2012
“When our crowds were getting more mainstream, we didn’t want to represent the typical Mohawk stereotype. Pansy Division was truly challenging, and their songs are melodic and catchy. I got letters from teenagers saying, after seeing Pansy Division, they had the courage to come out. I saw certain idiots in the crowd yelling 'faggots' or throwing shit. But I also saw people dancing and having a good time. Homophobia has no place in the punk scene or the mainstream.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Out Magazine, 2012
“I just got to a breaking point where it was like, by my later high school years, 'You’re all full of shit anyway. Everyone’s full of shit. I know what I’m doing, and fuck school, and fuck schoolwork, and I’m not going to go to fucking college anyway, and I’m gonna play in a rock band, and you’re all gonna be sorry.' You get vengeful - it’s a natural instinct, all those hormones going and shit.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Out Magazine, 2010
“I love what America is supposed to stand for, but I love what a lot of things are supposed to stand for. The message has become convoluted and it’s hard to get people in this country on the same page about things that, quite honestly, you should know when you’re six years old.”
Mike Dirnt · Kerrang, 2016
“If you are black, white, brown, of any nationality or any faith, gay, straight, trans, girl, boy, punk, metal, goth, weirdo, skin, freak, and the overall marginalized of all ages, we welcome you with all the rage and love we can muster. We stand by you. Together. In love and unity forever.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Instagram, 2016
“Me no spEek perty wen I tawk lik an tuul. I fudj up my werds lik a brian fart.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Twitter, 11 Aug 2010
“One day we will all get naked and have a million person sex party.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Twitter, 9 Sep 2010
“People who lack self-esteem are often the ones who are the best at making others believe in themselves. You know, as if they somehow put all their energy into making sure that no one ends up like them.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“Billie dropped out halfway through his senior year. He gave a copy of our first album to his English teacher. She gave it back to him with red marks all over it. That record sold over a million copies. Fuck. You.”
Mike Dirnt · Alternative Press
“We would have kicked our younger selves off the tour. They were assholes.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Kerrang, 2009
“My mom’s got a cute ass. Total MILF!”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Kerrang, 2005
“I don’t regret anything. Even playing with Bon Jovi was kind of a trip.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Kerrang, 2005
“Somebody impersonated me years ago and went home with some girl and stole all her jewellery and credit cards. The cops were trying to prosecute me for six months!”
Mike Dirnt · Kerrang, 2005
“Our crowds can expect to get laid.”
Tré Cool · Kerrang, 2009
“I came home one day when we were all living in a house in Richmond, California and Mike was sitting on the floor on LSD. He was sat there with his bass and he goes, ‘Listen to this bassline, doesn’t it sound funny?’ And yeah, it sounded pretty slappy.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Kerrang, 2005
“We played anywhere and everywhere. Whether it’s a bar mitzvah or someone’s bathroom. Part of the beauty of punk was the same three bands borrowing one guy’s amp or the seven bands sharing one drum kit held together by tape. We played every gig. It made us a better band.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Kerrang, 2005
“Mike burps the loudest.”
Tré Cool
“When we were kids, we were shits. I remember times when we would walk block after block over the hoods of cars or just roll bowling balls down the steepest streets in Seattle.”
Mike Dirnt · Stuff Magazine, 2004
“I’ve got my education through punk rock. It may not be the biggest education in the world but I formed opinions and views on the world and society, feminism and racism through it. I think it changes individuals.”
Tré Cool · Big Cheese, 2004
“We’re still the same desensitized kids from the suburbs. I think that’s just the way we’re made. When mom and dad fucked they made these little monsters!”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Big Cheese, 2004
“I never rebelled against my parents. There was nothing to rebel against. They were working class people. My mother was a waitress, my father was a truck driver - what’s to rebel against? Parental rebellion is a very Orange County thing, rebelling against your rich parents. And that certainly wasn’t my life.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Kerrang, May 2010
“Mike’s a mad sleeper—the way he sleeps he’s totally poised to hit the first person to tap him on the shoulder in the morning. Billie has bad dental hygiene, but so do I. A bit of my tooth rotted out the other day in Amsterdam. I’ve brushed my teeth three times on this tour! Fuck it! Beer cleans your teeth good enough.”
Tré Cool
“Some people call me Billie, some call me Billie Joe – either is fine. But only my father-in-law calls me BJ. And he’s the only one who’s allowed to.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Maxim, 2009
“I’m all kinds of dad. There’s a side of me that can be pretty conservative - but on the other hands, my sons will bring their friends to shows, and they’ll be like ‘holy shit, look at those tattoos! Your dad is crazy!’”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Maxim, 2009
“That’s one thing in my life I’m not proud of - it was a dangerous situation. It was one of those everything nights - beer, wine, shots. And I’m only about 5'8" and 145 pounds. On the way home I ran a red light, and the next thing I knew I was in the back of a cop car. Not one of my prouder moments.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Maxim, 2009
“We came from such a highly polluted area in Rodeo, California. It’s a refinery town and we ended up getting sent home from school because kids were having headaches and nobody could understand why, when of course, 200 yards away from the elementary school I went to was the biggest refinery in America.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Flaunt Magazine, 2005
“What happened with American Idiot didn’t come easy. We didn’t do anything cheap, we didn’t take any shortcuts, we didn’t write any novelties like you see so many rock bands do. We made something that we were passionate about and either something like this was going to happen or we would’ve gone down with a good fight.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Flaunt Magazine, 2005
“Fame is about giving back and doing it for the right reasons, not because you have a guilty conscience.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Flaunt Magazine, 2005
“Mike and Tre are my best friends and we always keep it in perspective. Fame is not bigger than the human soul or the human spirit, and it never will be.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Flaunt Magazine, 2005
“My mom sent me a hate letter after Woodstock. She said that I was disrespectful and indecent and that if my father was alive, he would be ashamed of me. She couldn’t believe that I pulled my pants down and got in a fight onstage. She even talked shit about my wife, Adrienne, and how she’s supposed to be my loving wife, but she’s never even come over and visited. It was pretty brutal.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Rolling Stone, 1994
“It’s like that feeling of what’s obsolete, like we’re turning into a pop-culture graveyard… ooh, that was good — pop-culture graveyard! I’m going to say that so many times in the next few days.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · On the cover of Revolution Radio, 2017
“All of my songs are dirty.”
Tré Cool · IGN, 2009
“I had McDonald’s last night for the first time in five years… you know that feeling when you have a one-night stand with someone you’re totally not attracted to but you’re too drunk to figure it out? That’s what I feel like right now… it’s like, it’s a good idea at the time right? Now I’m just farting a lot…”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Onstage in Kansas City, 2017
“I think a record like Dookie is almost conceptual, because we were right in the middle of that time period.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Absolute Radio, 2009
“Music is inspiring for me, it’s changed my life, so yeah, I absolutely think music can inspire people to change their lives.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Absolute Radio, 2009
“Releasing albums is a cross between a panic attack and an orgasm at the same time. You should try it some time.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Absolute Radio, 2009
“I would rather sneak into the body of Michelle Obama, thank you very much.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Asked if he would sneak into the body of Barack Obama, 2009
“Bono sent my wife a dirty e-mail. That was kind of funny…”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Rolling Stone, 2006
“First name Billie! Last name Joe!”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Spin Magazine, 1995
“I’m sorry but a Nazi doesn’t have an opinion. A Nazi does not have freedom of speech as far as I’m concerned. If you are a danger to my friends, to my family, and to the human dignity then fuck you.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Onstage in Toronto, 18 Aug 2017
“I’m very monogamous.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · The Advocate, 1994
“I do think that deodorants are a scam. You wake up and put some on, then a couple of hours later you smell even worse, so you do it again. Just throw it away.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“Every once in a while we’ll be walking through wherever we’re at, Italy or Germany or somewhere, we’ll see a squat and me and Tre’ll stumble in and end up smoking hash with some crusty guys. We can do that because they know we were there before.”
Mike Dirnt · Big Cheese, 2004
“I’m a fucking pacifist, but if I see a nazi, I’ll paciFIST right upside his fucking head.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Onstage in Cleveland, OH, 2017
“I don’t wanna shart onstage. You get a little older, these things happen more frequently…”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Facebook Live, 2017
“When I was a little kid doing air guitar to my favorite records I never thought I’d be doing it with an actual guitar in front of that many people.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Kerrang, 2005
“Everything I do is autobiographical unless I’m writing about a friend or something.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · CDNow, 2000
“During King For A Day one night I stripped down to the thong and it was a big hit, so I started doing it. I did it at a Hell’s Angels festival one night and I remember thinking, ‘Oh my God, I’m going to die!'”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Kerrang, 2004
“We accept anyone who feels marginalised at any Green Day event. Period. Especially if you're gay or trans, black, white, brown or of any nationality. Period. Green Day is a safe place for you to be.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · The Guardian, 2017
“I never want to be the kind of guy who talks about addiction. The last thing I want is sympathy from anybody. I don’t want a pity party.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Rolling Stone, 2013
“I don’t think love songs are basic at all. I think the issue is writing things that have some personal or emotional value that people can connect to. Writing a love song is to write about something you believe or think you can believe.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · 2011
“My brother and I were taking a bath together - I was about four, so he was about six - and I guess he had a little, um, boner or something. And he took a pee. It shot straight up and went right into my mouth. I drank his piss! I ended up throwing up the dinner we had that night all over the bathtub.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“I got arrested for stealing a car when I was 16. I ran into a ditch and ended up getting thrown in jail. My uncle had to come and get me out - he was particularly unhappy because it was his car!”
Billie Joe Armstrong · 1994
“There was this guy who rammed my head into a cement wall for no reason when I was 17. So yeah, it would be nice to have his legs broken or something.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · 1994
“This is way too life changing. Going to bed.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Twitter, 2017
“Today I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Do you know how many peanuts died for that shitty sandwich? I didn't hurt the peanuts!”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Twitter, 2017
“I was an eleven-year-old rambunctious kid with ADHD. I thought cymbals were awesome.”
Tré Cool · Modern Drummer, 2017
“My wife Googled ‘Billie Joe Armstrong bisexual.’ She’s like, ‘Yeah, there are about 20 pictures of you kissing different guys.’”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Out Magazine, 2010
“When a show is uneventful, or we’re not that tight, or the crowd is lukewarm – the clothes come off. You’ve got to give them something to remember, so ten years from now they can say ‘oh yeah! We saw Green Day and Billie Joe got naked!’ I came from a working-class background, and I work hard up there.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Spin Magazine, 1997
“My wife calls me Eeyore, after the Winnie the Pooh character.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Spin Magazine, 1997
“I’d just rather write about being sad or angry than being happy. I’d rather write about committing suicide than about a girl.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Spin Magazine, 1997
“The thing about sex and music is that you spend more time talking about it than you do actually doing it.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · MTV Germany, 2009
“There was never any quitting in this band. Even when we thought we were making great records and people weren’t listening, we thought they were the stupid ones, so…”
Billie Joe Armstrong · MTV, 2009
“In doing the breakdown section of Holiday, I pounded myself in the chest with this big microphone and I ended up bruising my ribs for like a month and a half.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · MTV, 2009
“My wife thinks I’m a pain in the ass. She's right. And these are my two other wives.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · SFGate, 2000
“The fucked up thing about being famous and having money is that if you complain about something, people are like ‘what the fuck are you complaining about? You don’t have to work a real job. You don’t have to worry about money or a place to live.’ I feel like I don’t have anyone to vent my frustrations to because they won’t understand.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Spin Magazine, 1995
“We know that sometimes all we really have is each other. This is the three of us, and this is what you get.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Spin Magazine, 1995
“We had this engineer, Tone, who was 19. I called these dominatrix ladies in to beat the shit out of him on tape so we could get the sound of it. It was quite entertaining. He thought he was badass so they gave it to him a little heavy.”
Tré Cool · Q Magazine, 2012
“I’ve been a cross between 18 and 40 since I was 10 years old.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Total Guitar, 2012
“Tré once convinced me to go into a bathroom with him on acid and I was freaking out because I didn’t know what I was going to do. He pulled out an asthma inhaler and he goes, ‘Here, try this. It’s rad.’”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Q Magazine, 2012
“I don't push the self-destruct button in public. Part of the fun is doing it in your own personal time.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Q Magazine, 2009
“I believe in some sort of spirituality, but I don’t know if I’m gonna end up with a hundred virgins somewhere or something! I guess I’d be happy if I just got to see a few old friends on the way.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“I have a bit of a fetish for Christianity a little bit…”
Billie Joe Armstrong · NRJ, 2009
“I would never want to be a politician. I like to think of myself as a good comedian.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · 1Live, 2009
“We recorded like 10 songs in one night. Then we decided to do a tour and dress up in fur coats and act like total morons. It was great.”
“I may have made this grandiose record, but I’ve got to take out the recycling, too.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Gant Daily, April 2009
“When we put out Kerplunk on Lookout Records, it was like ‘my drumming’s going to be on a CD!'”
Tré Cool · Rolling Stone, 1996
“You make excuses. You ra­tionalize. You can take a shit in a mailbox. That doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · On alcoholism, in Rolling Stone, 2013
“I saw somebody say the other day, ‘They played a couple of covers when they should have squeezed in some more of their old catalog, but I guess it’s OK since they did 33 songs.’ Fuck you. Who plays 33 songs? Not to mention, some of those songs are seven and nine minutes long. Come on, man.”
Mike Dirnt · Rolling Stone, 2017
“My ex-wife told me she was leaving me the day we finished American Idiot. It was a blessing but just an emotional drain. It was horrible and great. When we mastered the record, I cried through the whole thing.”
Mike Dirnt · Rolling Stone, 2005
“My ex-wife told me she was leaving me the day we finished American Idiot. It was a blessing but just an emotional drain. It was horrible and great. When we mastered the record, I cried through the whole thing.”
Mike Dirnt · Rolling Stone, 2005
“I grew up with my mom hating the white man but loving me – and call me perceptive, but I was able to figure out that my mom loved me and hated other people for political reasons. I was one of those kids who’d walk around the neighborhood and talk to the adults and learn a lot. I’m good with people.”
Mike Dirnt · On his native American foster mother, in Rolling Stone, 1996
“There are times when Billie Joe calls Bush an asshole from the stage, and we see a guy throw us the finger - but then they’ll change it into a fist and start pumping the air.”
Mike Dirnt · Rolling Stone, 2006
“I think of rock 'n' roll as being the ultimate American culture.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Rolling Stone, 2006
“Admitting that we cared for each other was the big thing. We didn’t hold anything back. Before, Billie would write a song, get stoned and then say ‘fuck it.’ An imaginary Mike and Tré in his head would say, 'that song sucks, don’t waste your time on it.’ He stopped doing that and became totally fearless around me and Mike.”
Tré Cool · On the band's near breakup before American Idiot, in Rolling Stone, 2005
“If you take a song and you get enough people singing it, it becomes an anthem, and an anthem becomes the national anthem, to a degree.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Rolling Stone, 2006
“We decided we were going to be the biggest, best band in the world or fall flat on our faces.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Rolling Stone, 2005
“Jesus looks like a fucking pothead, doesn’t he?”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Rolling Stone, 2006
“It's sexy to be an angry young man, not a bitter old bastard.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Rolling Stone, 2005
“I learned show tunes as a kid. My dad was a jazz drummer, and I used to go to veterans’ hospitals and sing. I wanted to play guitar, but they said my hands were too small.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Rolling Stone, 2005
“I learned show tunes as a kid. My dad was a jazz drummer, and I used to go to veterans’ hospitals and sing. I wanted to play guitar, but they said my hands were too small.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Rolling Stone, 2005
“We were out in the mountains. We used to jam with solar panels and a fuckin’ Peavey amp.”
Tré Cool · Rolling Stone, 1996
“I like playing big places a lot. We got a chance to be playing these arenas, and I’m really grateful for that. I’m not going to sit here and say ‘fuck our fans, man, they’re not true Green Day fans because they heard us on MTV.’”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Rolling Stone, 1996
“I’m human still. I’m probably angry at least five days out of a week just like anybody is. Everybody gets sick of life. It’s human nature.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Rolling Stone, 1996
“When I play, I’m not a nice guy. You know when you get really drunk and it’s like this person inside you wants to come out and be obnoxious? It’s kind of the same thing. And then people like you for it. I don’t get that.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Rolling Stone, 1995
“I still have nightmares about falling behind in my classes. I’ll have these dreams where I’m getting an incomplete in class. When I was going in to drop out of high school, I gave one teacher the dropout slip. He just looked at me and said ‘who are you?’”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Rolling Stone, 1995
“Anything someone said about us – I don’t hold it against them, Maximumrocknroll or anybody. A lot happens in 20 years. They gotta change too. They have to be responsible for the shit they do. All I can do is be responsible for the shit I do, whatever happens. Their opinions… most people don’t even think like that anymore. I can’t hold someone’s 15-year-old self against them forever.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Rolling Stone, 2014
“You just look for a melody to hit you over the head. You take your influences and try to sing your own song to them. It takes a long time and a lot of patience to wait for a melody to hit you, sometimes.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Guitar World, 2009
“I always thought it would be cool if we could make a movie with Jesus of Suburbia, St. Jimmy, Whatsername, Gloria and Christian—like combining two records together.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Guitar World, 2009
“I still have the same friends that I’ve had my whole life. And I’ve always lived here in Oakland. For me, it’s very important to feel connected to that and to stay deeply rooted in it. Maybe it’s just coming from the working class. When you come from the working class, you’re always working class. Or at least you should be, or have a sensibility about it. That comes very naturally to me.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Guitar World, 2009
“Why do I do it? Because it’s art. It’s an art form. It’s just something that I feel I have to do. Something I’ve always wanted to do.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Guitar World, 2009
“We were on tour, you eat bad food all the time and you just end up getting bad stomach… you get the shits, basically. So we started calling it liquid dookie. Then we thought, 'wouldn’t it be fun if we named our record that?'”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Dookie documentary
“Some of the toughest times of our lives were living in squats and being completely unsure about what’s gonna happen next month, let alone next year.”
Mike Dirnt · VH2, 1994
“I thought a lot of the grunge bands were nothing but arena rock bands. They just hadn’t washed their hair! They were boring and introverted and it really didn’t say anything.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Dookie documentary
“A lot of people were like - ‘you saved my life, you saved me from depression, you gave me hope.’ All these things - it sounds cheesy to sit there and say it, but it’s true.”
Tré Cool · Dookie documentary
“When Jesus was born on December 25th, people go hey, it’s Christmas time! When the Easter bunny comes, it’s like hey, it’s Easter! Or when September comes, people go hey, it’s that guy in Green Day…”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Vulture, 2016
“That place and that culture saved my life. It was like a gathering of outcasts and freaks. It wasn’t about people moshing in a pit and taking their shirt off.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · About 924 Gilman Street in Rolling Stone, 1995
“Being in a band, you have to be a fan first. So when you meet people who have something to say about how some song affected them, those are the people I connect with. I still am that person myself.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Spin Magazine, 2010
“The craziest thing love has ever made me do is get married.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · MTV, 2012
“Your speedo is my democracy.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Instagram, 2019
“You’ve written from your heart, you’ve written from your head, you’ve written from your testicles.”
“I like a good cuddle party.”
“We never intended to be a political band. It comes out in the same way a good love song will come out. As long as it’s connected to the heart and the head, that’s all that matters.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · The Project, 2012
“It’s weird to be looking at sheet music for something I’ve written and I can’t understand any of it. It’s like looking at Braille.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Rolling Stone, 2012
“We’re like the ultimate motorcycle gang – the only way you can leave is if you kill somebody.”
Mike Dirnt · Rock Sound, 2012
“We still dream about music in the same way we did when we were 16.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Rock Sound, 2012
“I never claimed to be the best—I just want to be the catchiest.”
Mike Dirnt · Guitar World, 2019
“A lot of bands will say they prefer playing small shows. But let’s be honest, playing stadiums doesn’t suck either.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Kerrang, 2005
“At many a party, Tré played on pots and pans and cardboard boxes as well.”
Mike Dirnt · Kerrang, 2005
“We’ll probably end up being like the movie Weekend At Bernie’s. If I’m dead you guys can just drag me and prop me up onstage.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Radio Rock, 2019
“I thought that calling the song Time of Your Life was just a little too levelheaded for me, so I had to come up with something different. It was like yeah, you’re getting away, but you’re not getting away that easy.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Guitar Legends, 2005
“I never thought being obnoxious would make people like me, or inspire them.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Guitar Legends, 2005
“We honestly just fucking love playing music. I wake up every day and I think about the stage, I’m just dying to play drums. When we’re not playing music, we’re talking music. It’s what we live and breathe.”
Tré Cool · Entertainment Weekly, 2005
“I discovered punk rock when I was 11. I jumped into an MDC pit and got beat up by skinheads and whoever else. But it’s how I was educated. I dropped out of school when I was 16, so I learned from driving to towns, booking shows, meeting people and figuring out maps. That’s how I was educated.”
Tré Cool · Law Of Intertia, 2005
“I just do the best I can with what knowledge and background I have, which can be difficult because I don’t have much of a family background. Well, I do, but a dysfunctional family background. So I’m making this shit up as I go along.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Alternative Press, 2004
“I wanted to call one song 'Everyone Has A Plan Until They Get Punched In The Face.'”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Kerrang, 2019
“A lot of punk rock bands are always trying to be so hard all of the time. Macho brutality doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a good songwriter. I think that some of The Beatles’ songs are way more punk rock than most punk songs written today.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · American Songwriter, 2000
“I write on acoustic. I have a Silverine Harmony. But it sounds good. I just have it around the house, so I’ve written most of the songs on it.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · American Songwriter, 2000
“We were playing and Mike looked over at me, and I flicked this imaginary booger at him. He caught the imaginary booger in his mouth. Little shit like that is still cool.”
Tré Cool · Rolling Stone, 2017
“I love watching Mike and Tré play Longview. I like to watch the musicianship, hearing Mike play that bass line.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Rolling Stone, 2017
“I was stoked when Fall Out Boy inducted us into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. I felt they were kindred spirits in the way they created culture around their band to make it fun for the fans.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Billboard, September 2019
“About 20 years ago, I let a kid play my bass, and he thought it would be cool to smash it at the end. It took everything I had not to knock his fucking teeth out.”
Mike Dirnt · Rolling Stone, 2017
“It’s really hard to read an interview. Sometimes people will say things with different tones of voice, and it’s not actually what they’re saying. If someone says something sucks, you can't tell if they're being sarcastic or serious. Sometimes I'll read something I’ve said and think, "What an asshole! Did I actually say that?!"”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“I've been singing harmony with Mike Dirnt since we were about 15 years old.”
“They always give you shit when you try and read those fisting magazines on the plane.”
Tré Cool · Kerrang January 2005
“How about that time we all got drunk and went down on each other back when we were at college? We were experimenting with lesbianism.”
Tré Cool · Kerrang January 2005
“Pretty and demented at the same time, like me.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“Another good pickup line is "hey, how long is your cock?"”
Tré Cool
“The harder you work, the luckier you get.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Kerrang interview May 2010
“I'm always a work in progress.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Kerrang Interview May 2010
“We're Green Day. We can do whatever we want.”
Tré Cool · Interview Rhythm November 2009
“I've never been beaten up! I'm a black belt in Run-Fu.”
Tré Cool · Interview NME June 2009
“I love my friends and family, but playing, that's my DNA.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Interview NME June 2009
“Every night I play as if my life depends on it.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Interview NME June 2009
“We still have our anger and shit, but there's a greater good involved here”
Mike Dirnt · Q Magazine May 2009
“I've matured, maybe, but not grown up.”
Tré Cool · Interview Hammer Magazine December 2005
“I'm like a sack of potatoes, to be abused at will.”
Tré Cool · Interview with Hammer Magazine December 2005
“My job description is that I'm a rock star. And I'm good at it.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Kerrang Interview December 2005
“We rented out a movie theater to watch 'Team America'. But I started doing bong hits with New Found Glory and I had to leave halfway through.”
Tré Cool · Interview with 'Law of Inertia' February 2005
“Britney [Spears] makes it cool for hot girls to marry double-divorcé dads of two like me”
Tré Cool · Interview Spin Magazine January 2005
“I used to drink beer and smoke pot before I played. Now I drink tequila and smoke pot. So it's a little different”
Tré Cool · Interview Drum Magazine January 2005
“Just because you're in the missionary position don't make you no missionary.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · AP interview October 2004
“I didn't think I'd even be alive at 29... let alone still making music”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Kerrang Interview October 2001
“Sometimes you need coffee, and sometimes you need a Bloody Mary.”
Mike Dirnt · Interview with Diablo Magazine - June 2011
“The musical is amazing. I mean, I don't throw that word around very often unless I'm talking about myself. Being humble is one of my many fine qualities.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · IGN Interview May 2009
“If you start planning too far ahead, the next thing you know you forget you're living today”
Mike Dirnt · IGN Interview May 2009
“I got body lice in Germany! I'd tell you they were crabs, but I wasn't getting laid.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“Our motto is more booze and less guilt”
Tré Cool
“It's a little embarrassing, but I'm a high-ranking member in the Church of Lushotology”
Tré Cool
“We might be a little out of our minds sometimes, but we're fucking smart.”
Tré Cool
“The bigger the risks, the better off you are. Otherwise you're just boring.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“I'm a dirtbag rock and roller. I want to represent that before anything else”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“We're a political band, but it's not what motivates us. Music motivates us.”
Tré Cool
“You never expect to write someone's fucking prom song. You never even got invited to your prom”
Tré Cool
“I think we have the worst name in rock, I really do. It's the worst name in the world.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“The principal called me in and laughed and said "Mike, no one in this school has more detentions than you."”
Mike Dirnt
“We pulled out the harmonica and started singing prison songs...tattooing each other.”
Tré Cool · Radio interview Live105.com Sept. 2011
“I don't care what you do, I don't wanna be a mud hippie like you”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Woodstock 94 Mud Fight
“A turtle does come in it's own bowl”
Mike Dirnt · Interview with during Frustrators tour February 2011
“If me and Mike Dirnt are in the same room, it's not quite right if he's not on stage with me.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · American Idiot musical - January 22, 2011
“There's supposed to be a curfew at this shithole. We don't do fucking curfews. We'll go off when we want.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“We pride ourselves on trying to put on the best show we can and we're not afraid to say that we happen to be the best live band in the world.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Q Magazine interview - Nov 2010
“The one thing about Billie is he will snap and rip your head off if you point anything out at all other than how beautiful he is and how nice he looks today.”
Tré Cool
“To me, it doesn't feel like it's just another rock record that somebody put out. It feels like we taped into the culture a little bit”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Interview talking about American Idiot
“Punk is always something that's going to be with us and to try and explain that would be stupid at this point.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“We put the fun back into dysfunctional”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“The radio sounds good when we're on it!”
Tré Cool
“I wish people would turn off their computers, go outside, talk to people, touch people, lick people, enjoy each other's company and smell each other on the rump”
Tré Cool
“I think the listener can expect multiple audio orgasms and they're gonna cum out of their earholes. I'm telling you, you won't need Viagra when 'Warning' hits the stands.”
Tré Cool
“People think that we're just good-looking guys with big dicks that play hot rock & roll. But we have feelings too.”
Tré Cool
“Rock bands are such pussies, you know? I honestly think that people are looking for something that's more than just a piece of shit”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“The one thing that's always stuck with us is that we're crazy mother fuckers.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · 2010 interview in South America
“It's no use analyzing your life the whole time. Those analyses won’t help you when you’re dead.”
Mike Dirnt
“They always say ain't that a bitch. That's why they call them the obitchuaries.”
Mike Dirnt
“I'm gonna be cremated. I don't want to be stuck in any box. Maybe they'll bury me upside down and plant a seed in my ass.”
Mike Dirnt
“All my religious beliefs are based on Star Wars.”
Mike Dirnt
“I have a daughter and she's the greatest thing that ever happened to me. She gives me a good excuse to watch cartoons.”
Mike Dirnt
“Stop throwing shit or I'll jump in there and beat your ass.”
Mike Dirnt
“I'll remember 1994 as the year that ate shit...”
Mike Dirnt
“We write music for ourselves and if other people like it, that's great.”
Mike Dirnt
“Don't blame me for the explosion of punk rock. I didn't know our music was going to get that big.”
Mike Dirnt
“Dogs are gonna take over the world. It's a known fact for those who believe it, kinda like the Bible.”
Mike Dirnt
“You're the fucking leaders, you have the power. Don't let these bastards dictate the rest of the world, or dictate your fucking life!”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Live 8 concert on July 2, 2005 in Berlin, Germany
“History will tell if we were really a good band or just a one-day fly.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“Punk is always something that’s going to be with us and to try and explain that would be stupid at this point.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“Attack your instruments. Don’t let them attack you.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“I kind of became everyone's weird uncle. I was drunk all the time wearing a fucking leopard G-string.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“One thing I want to teach my son is sensitivity to other people. I want to teach him not to be this macho freak.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“You want a drumstick? Like an ice cream cone or a chicken wing!?”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“I never thought that being obnoxious would get me where I am now.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“A lot of people, when they talk to me, I can't wait for them to shut up. Like, shut up. You're a moron. I have nothing to say, you know?”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“If someone falls down please pick them back up. Just because there's not a fuckin' camera in your face doesn't mean you don't have to look out for each other.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“'Welcome to Montreal — fuck you' would be a good sign at your highways.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“This song's off our album. It's called Kerplunk. It's kind of in line with the shit thing, ya know, it's like you take a dookie and it kerplunks in the toilet.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“Just about 99% of the population masturbates while the other 1% lie about it.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“When someone is in a car accident and they're driving at 100 mph, drunk, whose tape do you think he's listening to at that time? Think about it.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“B-I-L-L-I-E J-O-E. My real name is Billie Joe. And it's Southern, my mom's from Oklahoma and that's how I got the name.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“I fucking hate Lynyrd Skynyrd, I've always hated Lynyrd Skynyrd. Fuckin' backwards ass hillbilly shit.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“A guy walks up to me and asks 'What's Punk?'. So I kick over a garbage can and say 'That's punk!'. So he kicks over the garbage can and says 'That's Punk?', and I say 'No, that's trendy!'”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“Well, you know, I look at myself in the morning and yes, yeah I-I am a God.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“I sound like an Englishman impersonating an American impersonating an Englishman.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“They have bad taste. I am not a good-looking guy.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“Punk rock is dead...and I fucking killed it.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“[Our 'Waiting' video] was totally a failure. [MTV] doesn't show any videos anymore. If we had a booty video - if we had, like, McG, with girls shaking their ass in the video -- it would probably get played. Actually, I am just really bitter right now.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“Are you Canadian? Oh, okay, 'cause you're sure as hell acting like one right now.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“I was pleasantly surprised with emotions, goosebumps, erections, everything.”
Tré Cool · An interview, when asked what his feelings towards the musical were.
“Do you wanna have sex and get married?”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Interview when asked what the Best Pick Up Lines were.
“Yeah I've met members of The Who, and "members" of The Who”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“We are not afraid to be entertainers.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“The day you become old is the day you're not looking for new experiences anymore.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“Slipknot sounds like Tre choking on a hairball.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“To do something that you feel in your heart that's great, you need to make a lot of mistakes. Anything that's successful is a series of mistakes”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Bullet In A Bible
“Roll, roll, roll the joint - twist it at the ends. Light it up and take a puff and pass it to a friend.”
Tré Cool · Bullet In A Bible
“It's not how you pick your nose, it's where you put that booger that counts.”
Tré Cool
“Punk is dead to anyone who didn't get it in the first place”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“Music is the air that I breathe, it's the blood that pumps through my veins.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“And for our fans, they're just crazy people anyway. I always look at people in a Green Day shirt, and I think, 'What's wrong with that person? What kind of hang-ups does that person have?' Obviously, it's not just the catchy songs, it goes deeper than that.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“I can count to four and repeat. I'm a drummer”
Tré Cool
“Are any of these vegetables magic? I mean, if I rub this bean on my foot will I run faster?”
Mike Dirnt
“What do you mean we walked around in girls clothes? We walked around in dresses and they happened to be ours!”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“No man can eat 50 eggs!”
Tré Cool · Bullet In a Bible
“I like Fisher Price music, nursery rhymes, and the alphabet song”
Tré Cool · Interview - someone asked what kinds of music he liked
“Our passion is our strength.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“Nobody leaves this band unless it's in a coffin”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“Stand the fuck up! This isn't a fucking Coldplay show!”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Concert during 21st Century Breakdown tour
“New Year's Eve...we don't remember. They said we had fun.”
Tré Cool · MTV Interview for Green Day Rock Band
“Green Day is like sex, when we're good, we're really good, when we're bad . . . we're still pretty damn good.”
Mike Dirnt
“It's my fucking life and you know what, nobody invited you...so there's the door...see ya!”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“It's the end of the day, I've got my Chinese chicken salad, Mike's a happy boy.”
Mike Dirnt
“My goal is to be one of the biggest bands in the world, and I have never been bashful about saying that.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“I heard Davey Havok has a brand of eyeliner out now... it's AFI-liner”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“Everyone is entitled to our opinion”
Tré Cool
“Condoms are for sailors.”
Tré Cool
“The band is like a marriage. We get onstage and fuck each other!”
Tré Cool
“You have to be forgiven of your sins now so you can start sinning all night long”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Foxboro Hot Tubs show
“Rock star outfits...commence!”
Tré Cool
“Y'know?”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Pretty much every interview
“Tre doesn't need to use a condom. He has a huge overlapping foreskin. He just ties it in a knot.”
Mike Dirnt
“You don't mow another man's lawn!”
Billie Joe Armstrong · MTV Interview
“...and sometimes I think she may have married the end of the world.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Talking about his wife, Adrienne.
“Let's shake some shit up - that's all you can do.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“I'm a songwriter — I'm obligated to keep pushing myself.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“Of course, you also want something that'll make one hell of a killer tattoo.”
Billie Joe Armstrong · An interview talking about the characters Christian and Gloria
“It's not about the way you pick your nose, it's where you place the booger that counts.”
Tré Cool
“Do you have a problem? I have a gun. I'll shoot you. No problem.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“School is practice for the future, and practice makes perfect, but nobody's perfect, so why practice?”
Billie Joe Armstrong · Interview
“I never jizz in my own socks!”
Tré Cool · Interview in Kerrang! Magazine
“Rock 'n' roll can be fun and dangerous at the same time.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“What has two thumbs, speaks French, and likes blowjobs? *points thumbs at himself* Moi.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“It's MISTER American Idiot to you...”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“The radio sounds good when we're on it!”
Tré Cool
“The day you become old is the day you're not looking for new experiences anymore.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“Don't jack off a cactus, you'll only hurt your hand and the cactus' feelings”
Tré Cool
“You can't live on planet rock star 24/7; you have to be down and dirty and have some fun.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“You have to search the absolute demons of your soul to make a great record.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“I hate celebrities. I really hate them.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“There's nothing wrong with being a loser, it just depends on how good you are at it.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“Yeah fuck me! I wish all of you could fuck me!”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“Woodstock was about the closest thing to anarchy I've ever seen in my whole life, and I didn't like it.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“I wanna survive an avalanche”
Tré Cool
“I have a homosexual crush on most adolescents”
Tré Cool
“You can't fuck with us now. We did it. We pulled it off.”
Tré Cool
“I can suck my own.”
Tré Cool
“I want to wash your grandmother.”
Tré Cool
“I always said that the world is a better place because of Joey Ramone”
Mike Dirnt
“If my kid didn't rebel, she wouldn't be my kid”
Mike Dirnt
“Then all of a sudden we got introduced to punk music and it was the coolest fuckin' thing”
Mike Dirnt
“I'm still wearing the pants I had in the eleventh grade”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“I'm not gonna say anything inspirational; I'm just gonna fucking swear a lot”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“You think your life is tough? Try being a parent”
Tré Cool

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