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.

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.

In addition to co-writing the book and lyrics for American Idiot, a jukebox musical featuring several of Green Day's songs, Armstrong portrayed the role of St. Jimmy in the show for several weeks during its run on Broadway.

[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.

[citation needed] At the age of 10, he met future bandmate Mike Dirnt in the school cafeteria, and they immediately bonded over their love of music.

[citation needed] In 1987, aged 15, Armstrong formed a band called Sweet Children with his childhood friend Mike Dirnt.

In 1990, Armstrong provided lead guitar and backing vocals on three songs for the Lookouts' final EP IV, which featured Tré Cool on drums.

In 1991, Armstrong joined the band Pinhead Gunpowder, consisting of bassist Bill Schneider, drummer Aaron Cometbus, and fellow vocalist/guitarist Sarah Kirsch.

With their third LP, Dookie (1994), Green Day broke through into the mainstream, and have remained one of the most popular rock bands of the 1990s and 2000s with over 60 million records sold worldwide.

Hoping to clear his head and develop new ideas for songs, Armstrong traveled to New York City alone for a few weeks in 2003, renting a small apartment in the East Village of Manhattan.

The album has sold more than 15,000,000 copies worldwide, fueled by the hit singles "American Idiot", "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and "Wake Me Up When September Ends".

[24][25] In 2009, Armstrong formed a band called Rodeo Queens, along with members of Green Day and NYC punk rocker Jesse Malin.

In an expletive-filled rant, Armstrong criticized the event's promoters for allegedly cutting short the band's performance, before smashing his guitar and storming off stage.

[43] Armstrong gave details of a gig at Irving Plaza in New York just over a week before the iHeartRadio incident, in which he "Threw back four or five beers before we went on and probably had four or five when we played.

[46] Armstrong also collaborated with the comedy hip hop group Lonely Island in their song "I Run NY" from The Wack Album released on June 7, 2013.

[49] Armstrong wrote songs for These Paper Bullets, a rock musical adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing, which premiered at Yale Repertory Theater in March 2014.

Frontman Paul Westerberg had been suffering with back problems and spent the majority of the gig lying on a sofa while Armstrong helped play his parts.

[54][55] The film got mixed reviews, although Armstrong's own performance was generally praised, with The Village Voice writing that he had "a low-key charm suggesting that, if he desired it, he could get more onscreen gigs in between albums.

[65] Marc Spitz writes that, "Armstrong fetishized his teacher's guitar, partly because the blue instrument had a sound quality and Van Halen-worthy fluidity he couldn't get from his little red Hohner.

"Blue" appears in a number of Green Day music videos such as "Longview", "Welcome to Paradise", "Basket Case", "Geek Stink Breath", "Stuck with Me", "Brain Stew/Jaded", "Hitchin' a Ride", and "Minority".

Recently he has begun giving away guitars to audience members invited to play on stage with Green Day, usually during the songs "Knowledge" or "Longview".

Armstrong's amplifiers consist of a pair of Marshall 100-watt 1959 Super Lead reissues he acquired sometime before Green Day's Woodstock '94 performance and had modified for increased distortion.

For clean tones, Armstrong uses a rackmount Custom Audio Electronics 3+ SE tube preamp, and all three amplifiers are run through a pair of Marshall 1960B cabinets with Celestion Vintage 30 speakers.

[72] Armstrong is a member of the board of directors of Project Chimps, a sanctuary for former research chimpanzees funded in large part by the Humane Society of the United States.

[79] He also launched an eye liner with Kat Von D named "Basket Case", which is a cosmetic that he implemented as part of his singing character since his beginnings.

[89] Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, Armstrong announced his plans to renounce his United States citizenship.

The newspaper asked him about Green Day's opinions on the moral panic surrounding transgender youth, to which the singer responded, "I just think they're fucking close-minded."

She became known as the "first official Green Day fan," listening to the first four-track recordings by Armstrong and Sean Hughes, encouraging the band, touring with them and acting as an occasional photographer for them.

[97][98][99] She inspired many of Green Day's songs, including "Christie Road", which was written about the local railroad tracks where she and Armstrong would sneak out to meet.

[102] Amanda, however, was unimpressed with Armstrong; though the couple dated for some time, she ultimately left him in 1994 and joined the Peace Corps, leaving him feeling suicidal.