Billie Joe Armstrong Recalls Playing "Good Riddance" Live For First Time

"Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" is one of Green Day's most iconic songs, but when the band went on tour for their 1997 album, Nimrod, Billie Joe Armstrong was wary about performing the acoustic song live.

"I had no intention of starting any kind of acoustic thing with Green Day, and I just wrote it, it was just sort of, like, from the heart to the four-track," he explained during a recent interview. "You make these decisions — well, you can stay in your comfort zone or you can try doing this song...just put it out there and see what happens. So, I remember the first time I ever sang it live. We were somewhere on the east coast, we're on the 'Nimrod' tour, and then I was like 'Ok, I'm gonna sing this song. I'm gonna do it'." 

Though he figured the crowd wouldn't be into it, the reaction was quite the contrary.

"I shotgunned two beers and then I went out and did it, and it worked. And people were really into it and singing along," he recalled. "It was like a breakthrough...as soon as you hit that breakthrough, instantly in your mind you start going 'I can do this. What if I try playing it a little more country music? Or what if I tried using loops and stuff like that?' Automatically it gives you confidence." 

The song became one of the band's biggest hits. And speaking of hits, Armstrong recently revealed that he's writing new songs for Green Day. Could we be getting a new album next year? We sure hope so!

Photo: Getty Images


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content