CHARACTERS

Billie Joe Armstrong turns 51: 5 interesting facts about the Green Day frontman

Billie Joe Armstrong was born on February 17, 1972 at Oakland. Founder, singer and guitarist of Green Day, Billie Joe is one of the most beloved musicians in the world.

The Green Day Frontman began when he was still very young to be passionate about music, and throughout his life he has had several addiction-related problems, to the point that in 2012 he entered rehab to get sober.

Here are 5 interesting facts you may not have known about Billie Joe Armstrong, frontman of Green Day!

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Billie Joe Armstrong turns 51 years old
Billie Joe Armstrong was born on February 17, 1972 at Oakland. Founder, singer and guitarist of Green Day, Billie Joe is one of the most beloved musicians in the world. The Green Day frontman began to be passionate about music at a very young age, and throughout his life he has had several addiction-related problems, to the point that in 2012 he entered rehab to get sober. Here are 5 fun facts you may not have known about Billie Joe Armstrong!
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Billie Joe Armstrong has Italian origins
Armstrong was born in Oakland, but has distant Italian ancestry. In fact, his great-great-grandparents were named Pietro Marsicano and Teresa Nigro and were both natives of the town of Viggiano, in Basilicata: the two ancestors later emigrated to California in the mid-1800s. Precisely because of these origins, in 2018 the municipality of Viggiano awarded Billie with the honorary citizenship.
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Billie Joe Armstrong recorded his first song when he was five years old
The Green Day singer was a very precocious talent: in fact, his first song was Look for Love, recorded by Billie Joe when he was only five years old! Although this song is not included in any album, today it is still possible to hear it on web, although physical copies of the record are very few and are sometimes sold at auction for very high prices.
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Billie Joe Armstrong is passionate about football
Although he recorded his first song when he was five years old, Billie Joe still had a backup plan in case he failed in the music business: in fact, one of his dreams was to become a professional player at football. Fortunately for him, there was no need to attempt a sports career: in any case, the musician remains a big fan of football.
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Billie Joe Armstrong Is very attached to two guitars
The first guitar that Billie Joe is particularly fond of is called "Blue" and was given to him by his father before the latter died, when the singer was only 10 years old: by the way, the song Wake Me Up When September Ends is dedicated precisely to Billie's dad , Andy. The second guitar that the Green Day frontman particularly cares about is "Frankenstein", so called because this instrument is formed by the union of several parts purchased from a Fender store.
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The original group of Billie Joe was called Sweet Children
The band Sweet Children was born in 1986 and performed for the first time in 1987, when Billie Joe was 15 years old: in the band there was also Mike Dirnt, future bassist of Green Day, while the following year he joined Sweet Children Al Sobrante , later replaced by Tré Cool in 1990: at that time the band changed its name to Green Day.
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