Armstrong was the youngest of six children born in Oakland and later raised in Rodeo, California, a suburb of Berkeley, California. His father, Andy, was a truck driver who died of cancer when Armstrong was ten. His mother was a waitress at Rod's Hickory Pit, which Billie and fellow bandmate Mike Dirnt and friend Brandon O'Lech ended up working at in their teen years. He insists that his name is spelled with an 'ie' because, according to the liner notes in 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours, "Billie's mom spelled his name wrong on his birth certificate 'cuz she was on drugs from labour". He is the only member of Green Day who uses his real name.
Armstrong received his first guitar from his father shortly before his father's death from cancer — a Fender Stratocaster copy, nicknamed "Blue." Armstrong still uses replicas of the guitar, with its duct tape and sticker covered appearance. "Blue" was used in some of their most popular music videos including "Basket Case" and "Brain Stew/Jaded". Other instruments that Armstrong can play include the piano, drums, harmonica, mandolin, and the saxophone.
The first song he wrote was called "Why Do You Want Him". It was written in 1986, when he was fourteen years-old (his mom was dating someone he did not like at the time). The song appears on Green Day's debut album on Lookout Records, 39/Smooth.
During his stay in school he was nicknamed "Two Dollar Bill", because he was supplying the school with joints for two dollars. In 1988, Armstrong formed a band called Sweet Children with childhood friend, Mike Dirnt, and Al Sobrante (b. John Kiffmeyer). They changed their name to "Green Day" in March 1989, just before the release of their first EP, 1,000 Hours, on Lookout Records. The name comes from a slang expression for a day of pot smoking. In 1990 Sobrante left Green Day for college and was replaced by Tré Cool (born Frank Edwin Wright III), who appears on Green Day's second album, Kerplunk.
Armstrong and his wife Adrienne are co-founders and part owners of the independent label Adeline Records, and he has a side band called Pinhead Gunpowder which is on Lookout Records. He has two sons, Joseph Marcicano (b. March 1995), and Jakob Danger (b. September 1998). Armstrong and Adrienne (vocalist and guitarist of all girl punk/emo band "I Love Jimmy") were married July 2, 1994 in his backyard.
Armstrong stated that he is bisexual in an interview in The Advocate, January 24, 1995. [1]
Michael Ryan Pritchard (born May 4, 1972) is the bassist for the punk band Green Day. He got the stage name Mike Dirnt from his school days, when he would pretend to play the bass in school, making a noise of someone playing single notes on a bass, which sounded like "Dirnt, dirnt, dirnt."
Pritchard met Billie Joe Armstrong in 1982, a few months before Armstrong's father died. He first founded Sweet Children with Armstrong, and then Green Day in 1988. Some years before, Mike moved in with Billie-Joe because his adopted mother and sister moved away from Rodeo. Mike didn't want to move away from his new found best friend and love for music.
Pritchard went to Salesian High School as a freshman but graduated from Pinole Valley High in 1990.
He used to play an old Gibson G-3 bass, but during Nimrod, Billie got Mike his first Fender Precision Bass. He later asked Fender if they could make him a custom P-Bass, and the result is a bass modeled after the 55' P-Bass with a split-coil pickup in the middle. It was released in early 2004.
Pritchard is also bassist in another band called The Frustrators. He was the bassist for Chicago punk band (and Lookout Records labelmates) Screeching Weasel on the album How to Make Enemies and Irritate People, and also appeared as a guest vocalist on the debut album by Squirtgun (yet another Lookout Records recording artist).
Tré Cool was born Frank Edwin Wright III on December 9th, 1972. He grew up in a remote rural area known as Iron Peak and/or Spy Rock Road, 18 miles outside of Laytonville, California. When he was 14, his family moved to Willits, California, 21 miles south of Laytonville. His dad, a retired Vietnam vet, built some of the houses in the Iron Peak area, and helped build an addition to the house of Larry Livermore, their nearest neighbor and the founder of Lookout Records. Livermore also gave Tré his nickname. At age twelve, he joined Livermore's band, the Lookouts. A lot of their gigs were at Berkeley's punk club, Gilman Street. In 1988, Tré played a gig at a high school party for the Lookouts and a new band called Sweet Children, who later changed their name to Green Day. That gig led to Green Day signing to Lookout Records. The Lookouts and Green Day often played together in the following two years, and after the Lookouts broke up in 1990, Tré joined Green Day as a replacement for their first drummer, John Kiffmeyer (aka Al Sobrante), who left the band to attend college.
In March 1995 Tré married Lisa Lyons, his girlfriend, and together they had a daughter, Ramona (b. 1995). They later divorced, but remain good friends. Tré re-married in 2000 to Claudia, and their son Frankito, which means "Little Frank", was born in 2001. They divorced in 2003, but they still live together in a house in Oakland, California, because of their child. Tré then dated Torry Castellano (Donna C. of The Donnas). They have since separated.
In the earlier years (Kerplunk! and Dookie) Tré used a DW drum set. Since Warning Tré has gotten his own signature Slingerland drum kit, the "Spitfire". However at the recent American Idiot tour, according to an interview published in the December issue of Drum Magazine, Tré has parted ways with Slingerland, and as described below, now uses Ludwig. As he says: "It sounds like an instrument."
Tré, similarly to bass player Mike Dirnt, plays a minor role in songwriting. He rarely writes for any instrument other than drums on officially released Green Day material.
Tré does, however, have some writing and vocals on the band's albums. He wrote/sang the bonus track "All by Myself" on Dookie and American Idiot subtrack "Rock and Roll Girlfriend" of the medley "Homecoming". He also wrote drums, guitar, played them and sang the song "Dominated Love Slave" on Green Day's 1992 album Kerplunk!. On some rare performances of the song, Cool and Billie Joe switch instruments. You find out that Cool plays the guitar in "Rock and Roll Girlfriend", where he says "I play the S*** out the drums, and I can play the guitar". On the same album, he composed the guitar riff for the track "Welcome to Paradise" for which Billie Joe wrote the drum part. This is the only known time that he and Tré have switched usual writing duties for an official Green Day track. Tré also appears on the Fat Wreck compilation Short Music for Short People with Samiam, and wrote and sang several songs with the Lookouts.
Tré has influenced many punk drummers; Chuck Comeau of Simple Plan and Eric Westhaver of punk band A3 both cite him as a major influence. Other sticksmen as Dan Duggins from Hot Rod Circuit and Todd Hennig are also influenced more or less by his frenzied drumming style, combined with fast and powerful strokes.
About his influences, Cool confesses that he is mostly influenced by the legendary Keith Moon, whom he idolizes and who is a clear inspiration over his own drumming duties. He also says that as well as imitating his other favourite drummers like Charlie Watts and Ginger Baker, he also endeavours to stand on his own and be an original and stand-out
Tré has been a part of The Lookouts (1985-1990), Screeching Weasel, Samiam, The Network (2003-present) in addition to his better-known role as Green Day's percussionist.
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