Who defines pop-punk or just modern punk better than American band Green Day? No one else, at least no one that we can think of. We’re not alone in that, either: the Rock and Roll hall of fame agrees too. They inducted them in 2015. But the group had people headbanging way before that – they first got together more than 25 years earlier. With twenty plus years of success under their belt, it’s no surprise they’ve gone so far and won so many awards!

The Sweet Children

Before they were Green Day, they were a trio called The Sweet Children. It consisted of Sean Hughes, Billie Joe Armstrong, and Mike Dirnt – and they got some traction playing live around the San Fransico area. Using California’s revival punk scene as a foothold, The Sweet Children started building a following – but not before they switched out drummer Sean Huges for Tre Cool, who’d previously played for The Lookouts.

The Birth of Green Day

In 1989 the band rebranded, naming themselves Green Day – for reasons we don’t know. They put out a record with a local label, which they would then re-release three years later. It helped them score a contract with Reprise Records, who put out their “Dookie” album in 1994.

That album was a hit across the board and even won them a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance. They put out three albums after that, but it wasn’t until their fifth album “American Idiot” that they took the punk (and pop) scene by storm. The title track, American Idiot, was a political commentary on what was happening with the Bush Presidency, but it manages to stay relevant today.

The band seems to excel at everything they do, from albums to rock operas – one of which they opened in 2009. The cast for that rock opera also won a Grammy, which just adds one more trophy to their already-crowded award cases.