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Armed with fast, incessantly catchy punk pop songs and a gleeful irreverence that thumbed its nose at the seriousness of grunge music – and most everything else – in the early 90's, Green Day exploded out of the northern California punk scene on the back of their major label debut album, Dookie (Reprise), in 1994.
The songs on Dookie were the sound of three friends – Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool – who proudly and expertly brandished a style of British punk in the vein of The Jam and Buzzcocks, but with a uniquely American sensibility for hamming it up in the spotlight. The album, driven by the success of such infectious songs as "When I Come Around," "Longview," "Welcome to Paradise" and "Basket Case" (which spent five weeks on the top of the American rock charts), would become one of the most influential albums of the decade, eventually selling more than 10 million copies worldwide and winning the 1994 Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance. Green Day rightly took their place alongside Pearl Jam and Nirvana as one of the most successful bands of the 90's and would spawn numerous imitators, opening the door for a wave of other neopunk, punk metal and ska groups who still thrive today.
Although Green Day had previously released a couple of records prior to Dookie, their major label debut coincided with writer Billie Joe Armstrong's masterful grasp of songcraft. So, while their ever-growing cult of fans thrilled to see their outrageous live performances, such as their infamous mud-covered, showstealing free-for-all at Woodstock 94, at the core of their appeal were some truly great songs.
Green Day continued to grow as a band on their next album, Insomniac, maintaining their strategy of creating short, powerful punk songs set in the sonic bombast of hard rock production. A darker edge began to creep into their material, which showed that the trio were starting to look beyond their trademark playfulness. In 1995, they hit number one again on the modern rock charts with "J.A.R," a song they wrote for the Angus soundtrack.
After an extended break from the music scene, Green Day returned with Nimrod in 1997, an album that revealed they were in an experimental mode. While not forsaking their punkpop sound, they expanded their palette with a surf-rock instrumental ("Last Ride In"), a horn-driven romp about a drag-queen ("King for a Day") and a string-filled ballad, "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)," which received major radio play as well as the distinction of being used in the final episode of NBC's hit show, Seinfeld.
The success of "Good Riddance" signaled a new chapter for Green Day. That they could have such a hit with a song so far removed from their trademark sound proved that the band was free to pursue whatever creative and commercial path they chose. So their next release, 2000's Warning, found them embracing pure pop with clever arrangements, melodic sophistication and a wider variety of instrumentation. Lyrically, Armstrong was at the top of his game, channeling the wit and wordplay of Ray Davies and digging deeper for subject matter, while never losing his sense of fun.
Green Day didn't release an album for another four years. In that time the events of 9/11, wars, both military and cultural, and political polarization transformed the zeitgeist in America, creating an environment of fear, cynicism and paranoia. Like a host of other great musical artists throughout history who directly responded to social ills with their music, Green Day focused all of their prodigious skills into making a big, opinionated and loud rock 'n' roll statement.
That statement is their latest album, American Idiot, and it has been called nothing short of a masterpiece. Grandiose, ambitious and brilliant, the album is an unapologetic punk rock opera featuring a 13-song cycle bookended by two song suites. Merging classic rock and punk styles with an urgent vision and an unabashed passion, Green Day successfully capture the anger, disillusionment and frustration of living in America today. While the music is more muscular than ever, Billie Joe Armstrong's lyrics are more incisive and intimate. Successfully bridging the political and the personal in bold music that speaks to a wide audience, American Idiot is one of the first great albums of the new millennium.
American Idiot was released in September, 2004 and debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart and #1 in several countries around the world. Months after the release of the album, Green Day made radio history by becoming the first rock band to reach Number One on six radio charts simultaneously with their smash, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams." The band won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album in February of 2005. They also swept the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards by winning seven out of the eight awards for which they were nominated. In addition they won eight 2005 Billboard Music Awards and in the 2005 Rolling Stone Readers Poll, they won Artist of the Year, Best Single and Best Band. This year they won the Grammy for Record of the Year for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams." Needless to say, American Idiot has made its permanent mark in rock history.
As they have so many times before in their career, Green Day will surely continue to follow their own path, defy expectations and grow as artists. For fans around the world, this means they'll get to experience more great music from one of America's greatest rock bands.
ASCAP is proud to present its Creative Voice Award to Green Day. The ASCAP Creative Voice Award is bestowed upon an ASCAP member whose significant career achievements are equally informed by their creative spirit and by their contributions to the role that a creator can play in their community.
— Erik Philbrook
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ASCAP Creative Voice Award Honoring Green Day
