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| Birth Name(s) : Billie Joe Armstrong |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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Partner:
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| Profession:
Songwriter, Musician |
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Full Billie Joe Armstrong Biography
Billie Joe Armstrong (born February 17, 1972, in Oakland, California) is the lead vocalist, main lyricist, and guitarist for the band Green Day and the guitarist for the punk rock band Pinhead Gunpowder.
Armstrong grew up in Rodeo, California, the youngest of six children. His father, Andy Armstrong, was a retired Minor League Baseball catcher, who worked as a jazz musician and truck driver for Safeway to support the family. He died of cancer on September 1, 1982 when Armstrong was 10. The song "Wake Me Up When September Ends" is a memorial to his father. His mother Ollie worked as a waitress at Rod's Hickory Pit, where Armstrong and Mike Dirnt got their first gig during their teen years.
Armstrong's interest in music started at a young age. He recorded a song titled "Look For Love" at the age of five on the Bay Area label "Fiat Records". As a teenager he originally was into metal music, but got into punk after hearing the Sex Pistols song "Holidays in the Sun". He attended John Swett High School, and then Pinole Valley High School, dropping out on February 16, 1990, a day before his 18th birthday, to pursue his musical career. While in high school he was nicknamed "Two Dollar Bill", because he was supplying the school with marijuana joints for two dollars.
Apart from working with Green Day, and side-band Pinhead Gunpowder, Armstrong has proved himself busy in the music world, collaborating with many artists over the years. He has co-written for The Go-Gos ("Unforgiven"), former Avengers singer Penelope Houston ("The Angel and The Jerk" and "New Day"), co-wrote a song with Rancid ("Radio"), sung backing vocals with Melissa Auf Der Maur on Ryan Adams' "Do Miss America", where they acted as the backing band for Iggy Pop on his Skull Ring album ("Private Hell" and "Supermarket"). Armstrong has produced an album for The Riverdales, and is also rumored to be part of a side project, The Network. The Network released an album called Money Money 2020. Many long-time Green Day fans who listened to the record remarked that it sounds just like a Green Day album, also Money Money 2020 was released on Adeline Records, a record label co-owned by Armstrong.
Armstrong's first guitar was indeed a Cherry Red Hummer acoustic which he received from his dad, which he mentions in the book Nobody Likes You- Inside the Turbulent Life, Times and Music of Green Day. Armstrong received his first-- and most famous-- electric guitar, a Fernandes Stratocaster copy that he named "Blue", when he was eleven. Armstrong was shocked when his mother bought the guitar from Armstrong's teacher, because he knew their family were no where near to be able to afford it. He modified the guitar to have a humbucking pickup in the bridge position. He initially installed a Bill Lawrence pickup but later switched to the Duncan JB model. He toured with this guitar from the band's early days and into their first few major-label tours. "Blue" also appears in several of their music videos starting with "Longview", and appearing most recently in "Minority". Armstrong has made several replicas of this guitar and uses them at concerts. He also owns several Gibson SG models which he has removed all of the sound/tone knobs except for one volume.
In 1990, Armstrong met his future wife Adrienne Nesser. They later married and now have two children named Joseph Armstrong and Jakob Armstrong. Adrienne is the co owner of Adeline Records, along with Armstrong.
Armstrong has stated that he is bisexual. In an interview with LGBT magazine The Advocate, he was quoted as saying, "I think I've always been bisexual. I mean, it's something that I've always been interested in. I think everybody kind of fantasizes about the same sex. I think people are born bisexual, and it's just that our parents and society kind of veer us off into this feeling of 'Oh, I can't.' They say it's taboo. It's ingrained in our heads that it's bad, when it's not bad at all. It's a very beautiful thing."
Armstrong was arrested in January 2003 for a DUI after being pulled over for speeding. After taking a Breathalyzer test, Armstrong received a score of .18, more than twice the state's legal limit of .08.
Studio Albums: 39/Smooth (1990) · Kerplunk! (1992) · Dookie (1994) · Insomniac (1995) · Nimrod (1997) · Warning (2000) · American Idiot (2004) · Untitled 8th Studio Album (2008)
Compilations: 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours (1991) · International Superhits! (2001) · Shenanigans (2002)
Live Albums/ Live EPs: Live Tracks (1994) · Bowling Bowling Bowling Parking Parking (1996) · Foot in Mouth (1996) · Tune in, Tokyo... (2001) · Bullet in a Bible (2005)
DVDs: International Supervideos! (2001) · Riding in Vans with Boys (2003) · Bullet in a Bible (2005) |
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