Credited for commanding the early-‘90s mainstream to stand to punk’s attention, Green Day’s major label breakout ‘Dookie’ chronicled bratty and bored youth with scuzzy, revved-up snarl. Selling more than 8 million copies and earning them a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album, ‘Dookie’ set in motion what has been one of pop punk’s most influential crossover successes. Their unapologetic and hook-ridden singles ignited alternative airwaves one after another, rocketing the East Bay, Calif., punk-scene boys into arena rock stature. Green Day channeled that same early disenchantment into later works that tread heavier territory and eventually adapted 2004’s politically-charged ‘American Idiot’ into a Tony Award-winning Broadway rock-opera spectacle, a signal that even alt-rock’s favorite pranksters aren’t above trading in juvenile delinquency for high concept and theatrics.
- Selected Discography: ‘21st Century Breakdwon’ (2009) ‘American Idiot’ (2004), ‘Dookie’ (1994)
- Further Reading: 20 Reasons Why Green Day’s ‘Dookie’ Is the Greatest Album of the ’90s, 10 Best Green Day Videos, 13 Songs That Sound Like Green Day Songs