Editing Green Day (section)

=== 1987–1993: Formation and Lookout! years ===
{{main|39/Smooth{{!}}''39/Smooth''|Kerplunk (album){{!}}''Kerplunk'' (album)}}
[[File:Green_Day_Lookout!_poster_1990.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.75|Concert poster, dated March 16, 1990, at 924 Gilman Street for ''Lookout!''-signed punk bands, including Green Day, [[Neurosis (band)|Neurosis]], [[Samiam]], and [[the Mr. T Experience]].]]

In 1987, friends and guitarists Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt, 15 years old at the time, along with bassist Sean Hughes and drummer Raj Punjabi, a fellow student from [[Pinole Valley High School]], formed band "Blood Rage", the name taken from [[Blood Rage|the eponymous film]], and played together in Punjabi's father's house garage at [[Rodeo, California]]; a few months later, the band renamed to Sweet Children.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.britannica.com/topic/Green-Day |title= Green Day – History, Songs, Albums & Facts |last= Albert |first= Melissa |date= February 8, 2020 |website= Encyclopædia Britannica |quote= In 1987 they and drummer Sean Hughes formed their first band, a punk outfit called Sweet Children. |access-date= February 9, 2020 |archive-date= August 6, 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220806210704/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Green-Day |url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.facebook.com/pg/GreenDay/about |title= Green Day – Official Page |date= February 8, 2020 |via= Facebook |publisher= Green Day |quote= Founded in 1987 |access-date= February 9, 2020 |archive-date= March 8, 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210308164518/https://www.facebook.com/pg/GreenDay/about |url-status= live}}</ref><ref name= "LLC1994">{{cite journal |last= Weisbard |first= Eric |author-link= Eric Weisbard |title= SPIN: Young, Loud, and Snotty |journal= Spin|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=8X17JjiXfYYC&pg=PA70 |access-date= February 10, 2018 |volume= 10 |date= September 1994 |publisher= SPIN Media LLC; Camouflage Associates |location= United States |language= en |issn= 0886-3032 |page=70}}</ref> One of their first songs written together was "Best Thing in Town".<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxrWAU4Ei_U |title= Green Day MTV Raw 1995 |date= January 23, 2017 |via= YouTube |access-date= December 4, 2020 |archive-date= August 5, 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220805070638/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxrWAU4Ei_U |url-status= live}}</ref> The group's first live performance under the name Sweet Children took place on October 17, 1987, at Rod's Hickory Pit in [[Vallejo, California]].<ref name= Vhawk>{{cite web |title= Green Day |url= http://www.purevolume.com/Vhawk |publisher= Pure volume |access-date= June 13, 2012 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130105002728/http://www.purevolume.com/Vhawk |archive-date= January 5, 2013}}</ref> In 1988, Armstrong and Dirnt began working with former [[Isocracy (band)|Isocracy]] drummer [[John Kiffmeyer]], also known as "Al Sobrante", who replaced original drummer Raj Punjabi.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Small |first1= Doug |title= Omnibus Presents the Story of Green Day |url= https://archive.org/details/omnibuspresspres00smal |url-access= registration |date= 2005 |publisher= Omnibus Press |page= [https://archive.org/details/omnibuspresspres00smal/page/12 12] |isbn= 9780825634086}}</ref> It was around this time that bassist Sean Hughes also left the band, causing Dirnt to switch from [[guitar]] to bass. Armstrong cites the band [[Operation Ivy (band)|Operation Ivy]] (which featured [[Tim Armstrong]] and [[Matt Freeman]], who would later contact Armstrong to fill in as a possible second guitarist for their band [[Rancid (band)|Rancid]]) as a major influence and a group that inspired him to form a band.<ref name= PunksNotDeadMovie>{{cite AV media |people= Susan Dynner (director) |date= July 27, 2007 |title= Punk's Not Dead |medium= Documentary Movie |language= en |url= http://www.punksnotdeadthemovie.com/ |access-date= February 10, 2018 |time= 93 Minutes |location= United States |publisher= Vision Films |quote= "Opartion Ivy was such a huge band. I was 15 years old when I got into that band, I just remember thinking 'This is the greatest band in the world'. |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180211131232/http://www.punksnotdeadthemovie.com/ |archive-date= February 11, 2018 |df= mdy-all}}</ref><ref name= Spitz>{{cite book |last= Spitz |first= Marc |author-link= Marc Spitz |title= Nobody Likes You: Inside the Turbulent Life, Times, and Music of Green Day |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=FSWZAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT41 |date= November 7, 2006 |publisher= Hachette Books |isbn= 978-1-4013-8579-8 |chapter= 4: Op Ivy |quote= "[Operation Ivy] became Billie Joe Armstrong's favorite band and biggest influence" |access-date= February 10, 2018 |archive-date= February 15, 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240215182147/https://books.google.com/books?id=FSWZAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT41#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status= live}}</ref>

In 1988, [[Larry Livermore]], owner of [[Lookout! Records]], saw the band play an early show and signed them to his label.<ref>{{cite magazine |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/punk-mogul-larry-livermore-recalls-meeting-a-teen-billie-joe-armstrong-in-new-memoir-193394/ |title= Punk Mogul Larry Livermore Recalls Meeting a Teen Billie Joe Armstrong in New Memoir |date= March 5, 2013 |magazine= Rolling Stone |access-date= February 18, 2021 |archive-date= August 5, 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220805074048/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/punk-mogul-larry-livermore-recalls-meeting-a-teen-billie-joe-armstrong-in-new-memoir-193394/ |url-status= live}}</ref> In April 1989, the band released its debut [[extended play]], ''[[1,000 Hours]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://greenday.fm/music/studio-releases/1000-hours/ |title= Green Day – 1000 Hours EP |website= greenday.fm |access-date= February 5, 2022 |archive-date= June 28, 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220628224340/https://greenday.fm/music/studio-releases/1000-hours/ |url-status= live}}</ref> Shortly before the EP's release, the group dropped the name Sweet Children; according to Livermore, this was done to avoid confusion with another local band, [[Sweet Baby (band)|Sweet Baby]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/25-worst-original-names-of-famous-bands-20150722/sweet-children-20150721 |title= Sweet Children – 25 Worst Original Names of Famous Bands |date= July 22, 2015 |magazine= Rolling Stone |access-date= June 23, 2016 |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160620001326/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/25-worst-original-names-of-famous-bands-20150722/sweet-children-20150721 |archive-date= June 20, 2016}}</ref> Sweet Children adopted the name Green Day, instead, due to the members' fondness for [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://archive.metropolis.co.jp/tokyomusicconcerts/concert/359/tokyomusicconcertsinc.htm |title= Music and Concerts: Green Day |publisher= Archive.metropolis.co.jp |access-date= September 6, 2010 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131102214651/http://archive.metropolis.co.jp/tokyomusicconcerts/concert/359/tokyomusicconcertsinc.htm |archive-date= November 2, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite episode |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG-1ibZOJzk |title= Bill Maher and Green Day's Billy Joe Talk About Marijuana |access-date= May 30, 2015 |series= [[Real Time with Bill Maher]] |first= Bill |last= Maher |first2= Billie Joe |last2= Armstrong |network= HBO |date= April 9, 2010 |season= 8 |number= 179 |url-status= live |archive-url= http://wayback.vefsafn.is/wayback/20151015130451/https://www.youtube.com/ |archive-date= October 15, 2015 |df= mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD9HuB6wi6Q | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526031439/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD9HuB6wi6Q&gl=US&hl=en| archive-date=May 26, 2012 | url-status=dead|title= Billie Joe Armstrong talking about drugs (Subtitulado) |access-date= December 9, 2020 |via= YouTube}}</ref> The phrase "green day" was slang in the [[San Francisco Bay Area|Bay Area]], where the band originated, for spending a day doing nothing but smoking marijuana.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The story behind Green Day's name|url=https://www.radiox.co.uk/artists/green-day/what-story-meaning-behind-name/|access-date=September 6, 2021|website=Radio X|language=en|archive-date=July 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220711144335/https://www.radiox.co.uk/artists/green-day/what-story-meaning-behind-name/|url-status=live}}</ref> Armstrong once admitted in 2001 that he considered it to be "the worst band name in the world".<ref>{{cite web |last1= VH1 |title= Green Day: Behind the Music #155 |url= http://www.vh1.com/episodes/r1ctel/behind-the-music-green-day-behind-the-music-155-season-1-ep-155 |publisher= VH1 |access-date= April 7, 2020 |archive-date= April 7, 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200407034737/http://www.vh1.com/episodes/r1ctel/behind-the-music-green-day-behind-the-music-155-season-1-ep-155 |url-status= dead}}</ref>

Lookout! released Green Day's debut studio album, ''[[39/Smooth]]'', in early 1990.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.greenday.com/album |title= Music by Green Day – MP3 Downloads, Streaming Music, Lyrics |access-date= February 18, 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141008145212/http://www.greenday.com/album |archive-date= October 8, 2014 |url-status= dead}}</ref> Green Day recorded two extended plays later that year, ''[[Slappy]]'' and ''[[Sweet Children (EP)|Sweet Children]]'', the latter of which included older songs the band had recorded for the [[Minneapolis]] independent record label [[Skene! Records]].<ref name= "Egerdahl2010">{{cite book |first= Kjersti |last= Egerdahl |title= Green Day: A Musical Biography |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=UfMAtvcbex4C&pg=PA28 |year= 2010 |publisher= ABC-CLIO |isbn= 978-0-313-36597-3 |page= 28 |access-date= December 22, 2015 |archive-date= February 15, 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240215182200/https://books.google.com/books?id=UfMAtvcbex4C&pg=PA28 |url-status= live}}</ref> In 1991, Lookout! Records re-released ''39/Smooth'' as ''[[1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours]]'' and added the songs from the band's first two EPs, ''Slappy'' and ''1,000 Hours''. In late 1990, shortly after the band's first nationwide tour, Kiffmeyer left the East Bay area to attend [[Humboldt State University]] in [[Arcata, California]].<ref name= Vhawk/><ref>{{cite book |last1= Small |first1= Doug |title= Omnibus Presents the Story of Green Day |url= https://archive.org/details/omnibuspresspres00smal |url-access= registration |date= 2005 |publisher= Omnibus Press |page= [https://archive.org/details/omnibuspresspres00smal/page/17 17] |isbn= 9780825634086}}</ref> [[The Lookouts]]' drummer [[Tré Cool]] began filling in temporarily and later permanently, a situation which Kiffmeyer "graciously accepted".<ref>{{cite book |last1= Small |first1= Doug |title= Omnibus Presents the Story of Green Day |url= https://archive.org/details/omnibuspresspres00smal |url-access= registration |date= 2005 |publisher= Omnibus Press |page= [https://archive.org/details/omnibuspresspres00smal/page/19 19] |isbn= 9780825634086 |quote= graciously accepted}}</ref> The band went on tour for most of 1992 and 1993 and played a number of shows overseas in Europe.<ref name= "Thompson 1992c">Thompson, Dave. "Green Day". ''Alternative Rock''. San Francisco: Miller Freeman Books, 2000.</ref> By then, the band's second studio album, ''[[Kerplunk (album)|Kerplunk]]'', had sold 50,000 copies in the U.S.<ref name= "Thompson 1992c"/> Green Day supported another California punk band, [[Bad Religion]], as an opening act for their ''[[Recipe for Hate]]'' Tour for most of 1993.<ref name="pearn">{{cite news |last1=Pearn |first1=Frank Jr. |title=Punk Band Green Day Taking a 'Bookish' Turn |url=https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-1994-03-18-2957839-story.html |access-date=February 6, 2022 |work=The Morning Call |date=March 18, 1994 |archive-date=June 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630140823/https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-1994-03-18-2957839-story.html |url-status=live}}</ref>