Green Day: “Someone said the other day, ‘Your band is my childhood.’ And I said, ‘It’s my childhood, too!’”

With a huge double-anniversary celebration coming up on The Saviors Tour in 2024, the members of Green Day have been reflecting on their incredible band milestones, and how long the band has been a part of their lives.

In the new winter issue of Kerrang! – which is on sale now – Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool explain how Green Day is such a monumental part of who they are, and it has been for so long, as well as all the fans that have grown up with their music too.

“Billie says that this is our high school band, which it is,” says Mike. “But what I take from it too is that our fans have grown up listening to us just the same as we’ve grown up. People say, ‘I grew up listening to your band,’ and I’m like, ‘So did I!’”

“I know,” agrees the frontman. “Someone said to me the other day, ‘Your band is my childhood.’ And I said, ‘It’s my childhood, too!’… Shit, we’ve been in this band since we were 15, 16 years old. We just started puberty when this band started.”

And they’re more than happy to look back at those earlier years – particularly on the road next year, when they mark 30 years of Dookie, and 20 years of American Idiot.

“We’re excited,” enthuses Mike of The Saviors Tour and their plans for the setlist. “I’m excited about the fact that people are excited about Dookie and American Idiot’s anniversaries. I mean, the fact that we’re launching a new record at the same time as those albums having their anniversaries is a strange anomaly, but also really awesome. And it gives us an opportunity to put together one hell of a show. We can deviate from it – we can do whatever we want to do – but, man, there’s a lot of friggin’ fun songs to play!”

Get your copy of the Kerrang! 2023 winter issue now to read the full Green Day interview, as well as brand-new features with everyone from Fall Out Boy to Skindred to Pale Waves to Bad Omens.

Saviors is due out on January 19, 2024 via Reprise/Warner. Watch the videos for Look Ma, No Brains! and The American Dream Is Killing Me below.

Catch Green Day on The Saviors Tour at the following dates – get your tickets now.

May 2024

30 Monte do Gozo, Spain – O Son do Camino*

June 2024

1 Madrid Spain – Road to Rio Babel*
5 Lyon Decines – LDLC Arena - with The Interrupters
7 Nurnberg Germany – Rock im Park*
8 Nurburgring Germany – Rock am Ring*
10 Berlin Germany – Waldbühne
11 Hamburg Germany – Trabrennbahn Bahrenfeld
15 Interlaken Switzerland – Greenfield Festival*
16 Milan Italy – I Days - Hippodrome La Maura*
18 Paris France – Accor Arena
19 Arnhem Netherlands – GelreDome
21 Manchester UK – Emirates Old Trafford
23 Isle of Wight UK – Isle of Wight Festival*
25 Glasgow UK – Bellahouston Park
27 Dublin Ireland – Marlay Park
29 London UK – Wembley Stadium

With support from Nothing But Thieves, The Hives, Donots, The Interrupters and Maid Of Ace
* = festival date

July 2024

29 Washington, DC – Nationals Park

August 2024

1 Toronto, ON – Rogers Centre
3 Montreal, QC – Osheaga Music and Arts Festival*
5 New York, NY – Citi Field
7 Boston, MA – Fenway Park
9 Philadelphia, PA – Citizens Bank Park
10 Hershey, PA – Hersheypark Stadium
13 Chicago, IL – Wrigley Field
15 St. Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre !
17 Minneapolis, MN – Target Field
20 Kansas City, KS – Azura Amphitheatre !
22 Cincinnati, OH – Great American Ballpark
24 Milwaukee, WI – American Family Field
26 Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion !
28 Atlanta, GA – Truist Park
30 Nashville, TN – Geodis Park

September 2024

1 Pittsburgh, PA – PNC Park
4 Detroit, MI – Comerica Park
7 Denver, CO – Coors Field
10 Austin, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater !
11 Arlington, TX – Globe Life Field
14 Los Angeles, CA – SoFi Stadium
18 Phoenix, AZ – Chase Field
20 San Francisco, CA – Oracle Park
23 Seattle, WA – T-Mobile Park
25 Portland, OR – Providence Park
28 San Diego, CA – Petco Park

With support from The Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid, and The Linda Lindas
* = festival date
! = with support from Rancid and The Linda Lindas only

Read this: “We didn’t have stars in our eyes, we just wanted our records to get out there”: How Green Day’s Dookie captured the spirit of a generation