Punk music is inherently a riot. The paradox of this phenomenon lies in the fact that from the very beginning it has become part of a gigantic business, including a concert show industry, production of records and CDs, the Internet, the printing industry and many, many other areas of business life. A lot of money is made on punk, just like on any other rock music. Californian musician Billy Joe Armstrong, whose biography has become one of the personifications of the "great American dream", is a rebel by nature, but at the same time, he is not a poor person and his family is good. These are today's Che Guevaras from rock.
Attitude towards officialdom
To a question asked about the essence of punk music by one of the fans, Billy Joe Armstrong answered almost without words, he just kicked the trash can and said: “That's it!”
When an admirer of talent tried to repeat the same thing after him, the musician stopped him, explaining that now it is already fashion, not rock. This is how the prominent rebel of our time, Billy Joe Armstrong, expressed his desire for all the mainstream. Quotes from his interviews, conversations with the public at concerts and just conversations with different people testify to the sincere contempt that he feels for all kinds of officialism and pomp. The musician does not want to talk about politics without special needs, sympathizes with Bono, forced to dine with George W. Bush for charitable contributions, and hates everyone in the world of celebrities. Well, then you need to treat yourself the same way, because it is difficult to call him a little-known person.
Early childhood
Billy Joe Armstrong was born in 1972 in the family of a driver and a waitress. The town of Rodeo (California) is one of thousands of the same across the country, with the indispensable Main Street, dragstores, gas stations, bars and other provincial attributes.
Musical abilities were transmitted, one might say, by inheritance. His father (his name was Andy) was a trucker, but he loved jazz very much, he spent his free time in clubs and was a good performer, he was even paid money for his game. Little Bill also loved to sing, from the age of five he performed in hospitals in front of patients, which was very entertaining to them.
The first recording was made at a tender age at the local Fiat Records studio, it was called the song “Look For Love”, the cover showed the name Billy Joe Armstrong, a photo of a boy's face and the name of the composition.
Loss of father and first protest
The childhood was happy, but, unfortunately, the guy lost his father early. Ten years is just the age when boys get many ideas about how a man should be, and mainly from dad. In 1982, Armstrong Sr. died and esophageal cancer killed him. After a couple of years, the mother got married again, which shocked the teenager, who took this step in arranging the mother’s future life as a betrayal of her father’s memory. He hated his stepfather, and when in 1986 he composed his first song, it was an appeal to his mother with a rebuke. The title of the composition inquired: “Why do you want it?” (Why Do You Want Him? ”). Thus was born the author of Billy Joe Armstrong. The biography of the musician began with a youthful protest against injustice, and he expressed it in a form accessible to him.
Instrument and teacher
A year before her second marriage, my mother gave the boy an electric guitar. This instrument (he called it sad, “Blue”) was the first, but not the last, it turned out to be so good that it is used by the musician today. The guy already knew how to play, he had an acoustic "Cherry Red Hohner", donated by his father.
The music teacher was local authoritative guitarist George Cole, he “put his hands up” and had been practicing with Joe for a good ten years. It was he who sold the guitar of the company Fender Stratocaster to the mother of the future celebrity, and before that it belonged to David Margen from Santana. Cole did not teach the teenager musical notes , obviously believing this to be completely redundant. Billy Joe Armstrong is of the same opinion, quotes from his interviews indicate that he does not consider school education a very useful thing. Learning is the path to excellence. And who, as a result, becomes perfect? That's about the way the punk musician argues.
Creation
With his rock band companion, his name was Mike Dertt, Bill met when the boys were only ten. A common language was found in reverence felt by the classics of the genre Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne and Def Leppard, whose friends listened enthusiastically. The enthusiasm was fueled by the Bay Area band, which thundered on the alternative scene in the eighties. Billy Joe Armstrong and Mike Dernt gave their team the name “Sweet Children” in 1987, clearly ironic. They were soon joined by drummer John Kiffmayer (aka Al Sobrant), and as such the group rushed to fame, stepping onto the stage of the Rods Hickory Pit In Vallejo club. Joe was so enthralled by the music that he considered that there was no need to go to school anymore, and, in general, he was right.
Films in which the musician had the chance to make films are not known as masterpieces of world cinema, but they also do not claim prizes at film festivals. There were few playing roles, mostly Billy Joe plays himself. Voice acting is one of the areas of application of this musician’s abilities. He showed his talent in producing punk bands. He may or may not like his music, but Armstrong’s indignation is his prejudice in the style of “Parsnip I didn’t read, but deeply indignant ...” Such arrogant rejection simply depresses him. Billy Joe himself claims that punk is dead, and it was he who killed him.
Family life
Billy Joe Armstrong participated in many groups, the first of which was Sweet Children. Then there were Rancid, Foxboro Hot Tubs, The Lookouts, Blatz ... At the Green Day show in Mankato (1990), he met his fate, Adrienne Nesser. It cannot be said that the musician reacted to the upcoming marriage irresponsibly, the young people met for almost four years, the wedding took place not because of the bride’s pregnancy, but quite consciously. The first son Joseph was born in 1995, the second, Jacob, in 1998. The Billy Joe Armstrong family is also the older brothers and sisters, their five (Anna, Alan David, Holly and Marcy). They are all from their first marriage, and one can only be surprised at the hostility shown in relation to the stepfather, who undertook to raise them.
Adhering to radical views in everything related to punk music, in real life Billy is a very respectable citizen, together with his wife and children in 2011 he recorded the Christmas song album “The Boo”. The bass guitar was played by the father of the family, the eldest son sat on percussion instruments, and the youngest on solo. Mom sang, Adrienne.