Billie Joe Armstrong’s recent outburst at the iHeartRadio Festival in Las Vegas after the band’s set was apparently cut short may have come as a surprise to some of the band’s fans. What may come as even more of a shock is the statement that Green Day’s Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool have released this morning regarding their frontman, as Classic Rock reports:
"Billie Joe is seeking treatment for substance abuse. We would like everyone to know that our set was not cut short and to apologise to those we offended at the iHeartRadio Festival. We regretfully must postpone some of our upcoming promotional appearances."
Armstrong’s profane outburst at the iHeartRadio festival had reportedly come about because the band’s set was cut short by 20 minutes to make way for a performance by Usher. During a rendition of the 1994 hit single "Basket Case", Armstrong stopped playing before announcing the following:
"Let me f--king tell you something. I’ve been around since f--king nineteen-eighty-f--king-eight. You’re going to give me one f--king minute? You’ve got to be f--king kidding me. What the f--k? I’m not f--king Justin Bieber, you motherf--kers."
He then proceeded to smash his guitar and throw away his microphone before leaving the stage, with the rest of the band then following him.
As Classic Rock notes, the singer was previously arrested for drink-driving in 2003, and while admitting having used drugs in the past, had claimed that he had moved on from such behavior.
The news casts a shadow over the release of the band’s new studio album "¡Uno!", which came out today. The disc is part of a trilogy of albums set to be released between now and January of next year. There has been no word yet on how Billie Joe’s rehab will affect the band’s scheduled tour.
what's rock and roll? singing between Usher and Rihanna or being introduced by Demi Lovato while tweens are screaming their asses off? Billy can say whatever he wants, but when he puts himself in this kind of company...
oh, and to quote cracked: He made an ass of himself because he doesn't realize that he is the exact thing that he spent his 15 minutes or so on stage crying about ... a rich, entitled pop singer who wouldn't be where he is today without the help of a bunch of music industry suits."
Exactly.
To be cut short for anybody is crappy, especially when you have had such a long career (especially for pop rock/punk standards where bands usually come and go within a few years) and when you were promised a specific amount of time.
To be cut for USHER, one of the biggest corporate Whores in the business who does NOTHING but play by what the current trend is to get money, is absolutely disgusting. I don't even like Green Day but I agree with them. If anything, this is a sadly wonderful representation of the music industry now (and, I guess, for the longest time).
I could go on for hours as to why Usher is one of the most vile people in the music industry and why artistic integrity means absolutely shit all to him, but I wpn't because I don't want to be banned. Point is I wish Billie wasn't on anything because everything he said was worth saying, and now it's seen as a cry for help and not a stand for reason like it should have been.
Except they werent cut short "We would like everyone to know that our set was not cut short and to apologise to those we offended at the iHeartRadio Festival."
We would like everyone to know that we are NOT a punk band anymore and we will shortly resume our corporate cock-sucking duties, starting by publicly stating the event organisers had done no wrong. Secondly, we will be putting our singer in rehab as punishment for returning to his rock and roll ways.
Seriously, this is the coolest thing Green Day has done since 1994.
They didn't play for 45 mins BECAUSE Billie stormed off. As Blitzkrieg has pointed out, Mike stated that their set was not cut short, just Billie throwing a tantrum.
That said, I love Greenday and hope BJ makes a speedy recovery, gets himself back on the rails so the band can move on and get playing again
Here's the thing. Festivals like this have extremely strict time restraints. I understand it from the staffs point of view that you have to make things work especially for the headliner. HOWEVER! For Usher????? Really???? That's the biggest problem I have with the pop scene. It's all about making a buck and kissing the ass of the one who rakes it in.
It was a tricky situation but IT WAS NOT A MELTDOWN! He had a point. Getting cut short sucks. I've been there myself. Especially if they were going to bust out a new track. Originally I thought Green Day messed up but now that I read about it more I agree with what happened.
Smashing the equipment may not have been ethical or professional but It made a point didn't it? I just hate that it was attributed to drugs and all. Even if they were involved it wasn't the main reason he did what he did.
Mike Dirnt will always and forever be a true punk rocker. When equipment starts getting smashed you follow suit, no questions asked. Well played Dirnt! That is all
Yeah, thing was, at least if I heard correctly, Usher took an extra 25 minutes, and there was another musician that day that took extra time. The cut into Green Day's set to make extra time. That's what I saw on Reddit yesterday, anyhow.
They're punk rockers. so the fact that he "lost your respect" makes no sense, unless... you dont know what punk rock is. yeah, that's probably what it is.
their first album thats not punk would be 21st century shitdown. Even the new album has some punk with pop mixed in. Also, learn the def. of a punk please. Everything he did in that "meltdown" was the epitome of punk rock.
apologise to whom? the fans? he would have to move off the stage in a minute anyway, the fans will get it... good luck to the organizers in getting them back again... he apologised in his own way right at the end when he said "god bless you all, we'll be back"... and u have the nerve to say hes worse than Justin Beiber? man you dont deserve to be on a guitar forum
dude i'm not 13 years old, i don't hate justin beiber, because like any other teen pop act he will be gone in a couple years just like hanson, arron carter, Jonas brothers ETC
I'm guaranteeing you will obsess over Beiber 100% more then me just by spending so much time talking shit about him. grow up. Keep throwing your $$ at billie joe, so punk rock, derp. Nothing worse then a ageing rockstar.
I agree. +1 For Billie. Greenday is definitely deserving of their allotted stage time, if not more. The music industry has bit the dust and this is a prime example of the corruption that has taken hold of the industry. Keep doing your thing Billie.
I saw a video where Corey Taylor admitted that he respected Bieber, but didn't listen to him. It was...interesting. As musicians, I think we become too narrow-minded and allow our own opinions get in the way of a lot of things. In all, I just simply say that, like most things, music is simply perception. What one person likes, another won't and what one person classifies a genre as will not be agreed upon by someone else.
I've been around enough to see 14 year old kids wearing Blink shirts with dyed hair and calling themselves punk and then seeing a dude stand a foot from a urinal with a 2 foot spikey mohawk, pants to the floor and he's taking a wizz with his hands on his hips. He had a punk thing stitched to his jacket, so without talking, he was making a statement.
Yeah, it's ****ed up that a band's performance was cut short so some shitty rapper can dance and lip synch to his music more
Anyone in Billie's position would have done the same thing. Because that's ****ing insulting.
He was like: "Im better at that then Billy is... I don't need like 20 hits for it to break, watch me... FUCK YOU 1 MINUTE"
after that he walked off like the boss he is
If you watch the rest of the performance, though, it's pretty sad. He was drunk for sure and maybe burnt out on who knows what else. Hopefully he gets control of it.
he was definitely hammered. i completely agree that it was sad. theyre my favorite band, always have been, always will be, but im incredibly disappointed. i can understand being upset for getting cut short, but there was absolutely no excuse for his "performance". and to everybody saying the record company made the rest of the band apologize? they wouldve done it anyway, regardleses of whether the record company wanted them to do it or not. if you watch the full video of their performance, theres a split second that they show the rest of the band, and even THEY had a confused look on their faces, like "dude, what the hell are you doing?". they may be punk rockers, but they still know when theres a problem. they even apologized when they had to miss that show in Italy because of BJA being hospitalized. while they may be punkers, theyre still human beings and believe it or not, they are actually allowed to be sorry.
Alright, apologies. I thought I read that it was from after the show, but I guess I was mistaken. Still, the point of posting the video was just to see exactly what state Billie Joe was in at some point proximate to their performance.
Billie Joe smashing his guitar and throwing his mic was priceless, I actually had a good laugh seeing this! He was quite right for being a bit angry, even if he was probably under something's influence. I would also be pissed if my set was cut short to let more time to a lipsync-pop act.
SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM
The set was cut from 45 minutes to 25 minutes to give more time to Usher, and from what I think he said at the beginning of the rant he was hoping to play the fans a new song during that 45 minutes, but only had 1 minute left which would have been taken up by finishing Basket Case.
I can understand why he would be so upset, they planned on debuting a new track and got ****ed over, while the way he handled the situation may not have been professional it's still somewhat understandable.
completely legitimate move being cut off for the same pop garbage. a great screw you to current state of popular music. i have a feeling this apology, and possibly the rehab stint, were forced by the label though, as some sort of "damage control". obviously if their set wasn't cut they wouldn't have freaked out. I'd wait for a statement from the actual band.
I think he's probably only going to rehab because the record label wants to do damage control. It's obvious he was drunk off his ass, but I don't think it's a big deal
For someone completely wasted on booze, I would have expected his speech to be more slurred. He seemed pretty focused to me, at least in the video above. Maybe some people can just hold it together better than others. I dunno.
Seriously, though, for someone to even suggest than Green Day should only get a 25-minute set is more than a little insulting. Go Billie! I'm really hoping that this doesn't cut into the upcoming tour. I've got tix for Nov. 29th. He should be in fighting shaping by then, right? *crosses fingers*
Oh, I watched it prior to posting, but it still seemed like he kept it together OK.
On a side note, thank you so much for that link! I can't tell you how big of a crush I had on Kennedy back when she was on MTV in the 90s. Everyone thought I was out of my mind, and perhaps I still am, 'cause she still looks good to me.
Are you sure it was after they played? She seemed to ask about what they'd be playing during their set, so perhaps it was before they went on?
I could care less about usher. Im sayin this isnt the first time i've heard this dude was off the wagon recently and i dont know if it's a publicity stunt or if he really flipped out, but either way he's a tool. He's not "punk rawk" cuz he tried to smash his guitar in the middle of his set. You cant have a song out where you sing "Woohoohoo!" in it AND be punk. It's a paradox. He's so punk man, instead of a cut short set his fans get no set at all, awesome. I'd rather listen to a band that didn't have to resort to publicity stunts to get their record out there anyway. I like the old fashioned way, ya know, with music?
Probably the best thing Billy Joe has done for years... might even give the new album a listen. Exactly what they wanted if this was a press stunt... hah
Haven't we been over this enough times on this site, gang? The article above has British origins, and in jolly-old England they say "drink driving" in place of "drunk driving". It's not that UG isn't typically chock-full of typos and grammar problems, but this isn't one of them. Why must this be revisited every time? Keep up people! } : - ) >
No artist should be cut that short and his point is valid, but swearing as much as he did devalued himself slightly. He could have made a pretty decent point about the way the industry is going then smashed his guitar.
I am not a huge fan of Green Day, but I kinda support Billie on this one, having a set cut short that much for a performer such as Usher would piss me the **** off too.
it wasn't necessarily dirnt that said anything. in fact its just a statement on green day's website. it was probably the label making them put something out. obviously it was cut being that he flipped out haha
Solid bodies like that of a Les Paul Junior and Standard can take a lot of beatings unlike Fenders that are so light and thin. That's why Cobain, Blackmore and Hendrix are prominent when it comes to smashing guitars.. it's because of the guitar their using which are basically, Strats.
Special mention... Kirk Hammett for smashing and throwing an Ibanez RG (which is a "superstrat" type body guitar) to the floor during the Black Album days.
K, my fingers just tickle to type in "eyeliner dependence" but that john_kimble guy managed to make an ass out of himself with those jokes. Better stay away from it.
Are you ****ing joking?!
That was not a freak out worthy of rehab! Rock stars used to do this all the time and they were AWESOME!
Fuck this new age of political correctness!
I was quite sad, but it wasn't vintage. It's Billie Joe's new signature guitar that Gibson released a month or two ago. Still sad that a $1500 guitar is now smashed
I've got a thing for les paul juniors. And that clip genuinely hurt. And green day are one of my favourite bands. But, nothing like publicity. Day before the albums out and all.
I don't think it was rehearsed. However, I do think BJ just saw an opportunity to try to look like a badass in front of a bunch of pop music fans who wouldn't know what a true rock & roll badass is to begin with.
Also lol @ the bass player who couldn't break his bass. Fvcking pussy.
I'm pretty sure it was a whiny man child whoring for attention and trying to look cool in front of pop music fans. Just like you said. Little does he realize, he is one of the poppiest "punk rockers" and is just as mainstream as 50 Cent. He's also, however, becoming just as irrelevant.
Five Finger Death Punch did the same thing when their set was cut short in Pittsburgh. No one got sent to rehab, they were just extremely pissed, bashed the venue, let loose an expletive-filled rant, blessed the fans, and stormed off stage.
Side note: Because they stood up for their own values, I've gained back some of the respect I've lost for Green Day since 1998.
Once we got cut short and my drummer went ape shit. it was kinda funny but PURE respect for Billi they can't treat a Veteran like him like some crap opening band.
I think the record label is trying to "repair the damage" after the show in Vegas. I mean, they wouldn't send anyone to therapy just because of one incident. What Billie did was punk, he stood up for all the artists that make good music and care about their reputation and their fans.
But, if he does have a problem, I hope he gets well soon.
"Let me f--king tell you something. I’ve been around since f--king nineteen-eighty-f--king-eight. You’re going to give me one f--king minute? You’ve got to be f--king kidding me. What the f--k? I’m not f--king Justin Bieber, you motherf--kers."
I wonder what 'f--k' means? I guess we'll never know. F--k censorship.
What a crock. He had a totally normal reaction to being told that he has to get out of the way for Big Money's Pop Stars. The only reason he is "going to rehab" is so his reaction will seem influenced by narcotics. It's unfortunate that a frustrated rock megastar can't express his anger without being dubbed "unstable" or "an addict".
But if he does have a drug problem, good luck to him.
What I saw was not a mindless drug induced rant, that was a man who was pissed off with a legitimate reason. Of course my conspiracy theory side says he pre-planned this 'outburst' to gain some mainstream media attention to sell more records. Either way, I doubt he really needs any 'treatment' or therapy.
lol this whole story just seems odd. Dunno if they were actually cut short or if that was the time allotted to them and he just got annoyed, don't know if he has a genuine drug problem, don't know if part or all of this is for publicity.
This is why I've kind of discovered I'm better off just listening to the music and not listening to the rants and raves of musicians. ex: If I listened to everything Mustaine and Nugent said while not playing music, I'd probably would've never liked Megadeth or heard a sweet song like Stranglehold.
I'm going to be rated down for this, but whatever.
It was unprofessional. Yeah your set was cut short (apparently) yeah you're mad, just finish your song, apologize to the crowd for having for not being able to play more, and move on.
Just because you've been around a while, does not mean you have the right to play as long as you want to when you're not the headliner; And even then, you have time limits.
Get over the butthurt, and deal with it like a man.
Anyone else who actually works in the music industry, knows this.
I actually agree. He should have said that just to the promoter of the festival. Just get out there and play anyway. And don't do the iHeartRadio Festival again.
I feel bad that he got cut short. But they could easily just schedule their own show in Las Vegas on their tour. Fans don't want to see their favorite musicians blow up on stage like that.
You'd be angry too if your set was cut 20 minutes short for some corporate cocksucking pop artist. Green Day have been around long enough and they deserve to be treated with respect. They wanted to please their fans with a new song but nope, they replace that time for Usher....****ing...Usher. Also Gibson0516 it seems to me that the audience enjoyed watching him do that.
bout time green day gets back to their roots this pop punk shit was bogus lets get back to even before the dookie days!!!!! and funny thing i was watching the behind the music of green day just this morning
bout time green day gets back to their roots this pop punk shit was bogus lets get back to even before the dookie days!!!!! and funny thing i was watching the behind the music of green day just this morning
I'm gonna clear this up for you. He does probably have some kind of drinking problems and he wasn't forced to get treatment, if you watch the whole concert you can see a bit of anger and worry in Mike's face and you can tell he smashed his bass cause he wanted Billie to not feel lonely. Mike also posted a pic of himself on his instagram were he looks really sad and Billie's wife also tweeted about it. Also, why couldn't he have drinking problems I highly doubt h doesn't, people allways seem to think that fame means instant happiness, it doesn't.
Not sure if destroying his equipment nor the borderline pretentious rant was necessary, but cutting sets for festivals PERIOD is ridiculous. Whether it was Usher, or the original lineup of Guns N' Roses, cutting any bands set for anothers is stupid. I understand festival times are strict, but if they havent exceeded their time, it's bullshit. Anyways, hope he gets better, not happy he's under the influence though.
Meltdown? i dont see a meltdown
i see an awesome mofo speaking the truth because he's pissed that he cant celebrate his new album release as people want some fag on stage? and thats a meltdown?
pa-lease, learn to handle the truth!
Anyone else hoping this incident inspires him to write a pissed off old school punk rock album? You got your "rock opera" phase out of the way, now you have THREE albums for your "power pop" phase (which seem like they're gonna be pretty cool), so now take that awesome rant and turn it into a high energy punk rock "F You" to the industry/labels/whatever else contributed to the above video
I'm not a Greenday fanboy or anything, but i f****ing love this! This is how a rock n roll star should behave: intoxicated and with a controversial attitude! More of this please! Todays rock n rollers have just become to polite and boring. *cough* Dave Grohl *cough* slash *cough* *cough*
Does anyone else agree that musicians are better stoned. I mean not just rockers, look at Eminem. Pot is the source of many of our favourite albums and thats not counting all the other shit.
Rehab? This guy has gotten drunk before almost every show in his life... I read an interview once in which he described his writing process for American Idiot as staying up late every night getting hammered and jamming/writing.
I think his label forced him to do this after he made a huge stink. No one sure thought it was a problem for the past 20 plus years.
I read on multiple articles that they showed up 30 minutes late and that Usher had already performed. UG needs to check what they post. Green Day has apparently apologized and admitted their set was not actually cut short. You aren't entitled to play a longer set just because you've been around since whenever. Especially if you come on late. This man is what, 40? And he's acting like a 12 year old. Oh well, they're just as packaged and generic as Bieber and they're fooling themselves if they don't see it. Of course though, they're being defended because they have an electric guitar and claim punk.
OOOH so you've been around since 1988 whoopty f*cking doo! you've been around longer than Usher which means you've been making equally crappy (+ hypocritical) music longer than him too jagoff.
As soon as I read he mentioned Justin Bieber, I knew every other person would jump on this. He could have easily said Eminem or Abe Lincoln as far as I care. The point of the article was he is in rehab. Hope he gets better.
The use of the F-bomb, the smashing of the guitars, the throwing of the mic, etc., are all "punk" things to do... Why is he getting negative attention? Hes a punk rocker.
Here I thought I was going to be laughing at him but I actually can understand it, getting cut short is total bullshit, and that was a legit freakout haha
Would it surprise you? I don't mean you necessarily, person I'm replying to. I want everyone else who reads this comment to ask themselves if it would honestly surprise them that they pulled this for attention and to sell their 3 new albums.
"Let me tell you something. I’ve been around since nineteen-eighty-eight. You’re going to give me one minute? You’ve got to be kidding me. What the? I’m not Justin Bieber, you motherers."
as you can see, once i removed obscenities this speech became a lot more coherent
This whole scenario is a publicity stunt to get some media hype before the new albums get released.
I'm pretty sure musicians don't get a queue from a monitor telling them how much time they have left, not to mention how he mentioned Justin Bieber because most people who aren't 12year old girls are sick of hearing about Bieber, hence the applause in the crowd.
The rehab announcement was simply a way to give the story front page attention.
Billy Joe is 40 years old, how much longer is he going to keep pretending to be a teenage rebel without a cause?
Wow. I ****ing hate Green Day but this just gave me so much respect for Billie Joe. He didn't look like he was on drugs, he was just pissed off because his set got cut short for Usher. Honestly, I'd be pretty damn pissed too. He had the balls to say it and now he's being punished for that. I like how he threw his fretboard to the crowd. Badass given the context haha.
Am I the only one around here that thinks this was absolutely awesome and gained back some of the love for Green Day that I had in middle school? Seriously, because of this I will go sample the album and give it a chance. I don't care if it was a stunt. He called out usher and his little retard albino midget clone. Well done sir. Have a good time in the multimillion dollar rehab resort. You have earned it.
He had every right to be pissed, but he could've handled the situation differently. He could've said "thanks to Usher the organizers are forcing us to cut our set short, so for the rest of our set we're just gonna sit on our asses" or something like that. They could've just sit there doing nothing or do something different and be a bit more creative than your average rock musician, smashing instruments and cursing like 15 year old. I don't know, maybe it's just me. But now he came off like a brat. Though, like I said, he had every right to be pissed.
Completely bogus and and act. The whole thing was trumped up by the record company to to market Green Day as a band returning to their punk rock roots. I do not believe that Billy Joe was high or is in rehab.
Green Day = Record Label Whores
Ok, I'll start off by saying that yes, I am a Green Day fan. From the day I first heard them, I've been a fan. From the start of their career til now. If this was any other rock band out there, I'd gladly defend them on their actions as well.
Now, I don't consider what Billie did, to be a "meltdown". It's just a man who got angry. I do think that Green Day was told that, "Hey we're going to cut your time down to 20 minutes. We want to give Usher more air time." I'm sure Billie was upset about it already, but the screen telling him he had one minute, was just a complete slap in the face. It is a complete insult to a band like them, who've been around for decades and are still pumping out new music.
I don't think that Billie deserves to go into rehab. He got angry. Lots of people get angry on stage. This time, it was just taped. I also, don't totally agree that Green Day, as a band, apologizes for what happened, because it wasn't the entire band that did it. There's two people to look at in this equation. There's Billie Joe Armstrong, obviously, and there's Mike Dirnt, who joined in on the smashing. Far as I'm concerned, those are the only two people that should be saying anything about it. Not the publicist of the band, trying to play mommy, and make things all better again.
Something tells me, that Billie and Mike, are not sorry for what they did and aren't going to apologize. They're going to stand for what they did and tell everyone else to bugger off.
As far as what I saw, that's the biggest thing, that screams "Rock 'n' roll, is not ****ing dead."
same thing happened when Springsteen was playing with Paul McCartney. Corporate c*nts and their strict timeframes. They probably ran out of blow or wanted to get to the afterparty asap to snorkel some trannies!
And to all of you little jerkoffs clamoring about his punkness, you don't know punk. Punk doesn't have a makeup artist. Punk doesn't sing ballads. Punk doesn't have a guitar deal with corporate giant *******s. Real punk is dead because you little pukes think it is an image, or a singular statement, or hating mommy and daddy. Reference punk rock prior to your pitiful existence (anything before 1990) for the real deal. I'll even get you started. Minor Threat.
If you're so punk then why are you telling everyone what punk is? Being punk and making punk music are two different things, being punk doesn't mean you have to go all crazy, it just means that you stand for your own opinion and being yourself no mather what. Stop saying who's punk and not punk, and because you listen to more punk sounding bands doesn't mean you're punk.
Some people are just being honest. Not even claiming that they, themselves, are punk. Merely stating that Green Day isn't very punk at this point whether you go by musical qualities or ideology. If it's the latter it has been that way for a long time. I mean, they don't have the DIY ethic and that's a pretty major thing with that latter one. Musically they're much poppier. So there you have two things.
If you can't tell that this is fake and that Green Day are totally just corporate puppets than you are foolishly naive.
Proof: the apology
What kind of real punk band would apologize for something like that? Green Day is corporate and hasn't made a move on their own since they hit the mainstream. And stop with the EMO eyeliner and shit, dude. You're ****ing forty and obviously just trying to stay relevant.
Why are the non-Green Day fans actually wasting their time on a band they "hate"? It really makes you look stupid. I think Billie Joe had every right to do this. Getting time cut for Usher is an insult.
i watched that show, set was pretty short alright,and the clock would freak out anyone.
Not a while ago i had a performance at my college fresher party,when was performing a guy approached me to tell about the time, and i knocked him down right that instant on stage
