Rolling Stone - USA (2020-02)

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ILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG REMEMBERS ASKING HIS GUITAR TEACHER

a question that would change his life. “I said, ‘How do you write

a song?’ ” says the Green Day singer-guitarist, 47, at his studio in

Oakland. “All he said was, ‘It’s verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge,

verse, chorus — mix it up any way you want.’ ” Pretty soon, that

was all Armstrong could think about. His three-chord anthems about growing up —

with all the loneliness, anxiety, drug use, and masturbation that can come along the

way — resonated with a generation on 1994’s diamond-certified Dookie and beyond.

Whether he’s writing punk songs or a politically powered rock opera, Armstrong has

the same rules: “It’s so important to try and be as honest as you possibly can with

your audience,” he says. “When people find a deep connection, it’s because you’re

trying to find your own connection inside of yourself. I think that that’s the thing

that actually ends up transcending.” Some hits have come to him in five minutes,

others take longer. He recently finished a song he’s been tinkering with since 1993.

54 | Rolling Stone | February 2020

Billie Joe

Armstrong

My Life in

15 Songs

The Green Day

frontman tells the

stories behind his

biggest classics,

from punk squats

in West Oakland

to worldwide fame,

broken hearts,

and political fury

By Patrick Doyle

B