Selasa, 22 September 2009


Billie Joe Armstrong

Dari Wikipedia bahasa Indonesia, ensiklopedia bebas


Billie Joe Armstrong (lahir 17 Februari, 1972) adalah penyanyi dan pemain gitar dari grup musik Green Day.

Biografi

Armstrong adalah anak paling muda dari enam bersaudara, lahir di Oakland, California, dan diasuh di Rodeo, California. Ayahnya, Andy Armstrong, adalah pemain musik jazz dan supir truk, telah meninggal karena kanker ketika Armstrong berumur 10 tahun. Ibunya, Ollie Jackson, adalah pelayan di sebuah restoran bernama Rod's Hickory Pit, tempat dimana Billie dan temannya Mike Dirnt bekerja di masa remaja mereka. Rod's Hickory Pit adalah tempat dimana Armstrong dan band nya Sweet Children tampil pertama kali. Ibunya, Ollie salah menulis nama ketika Billie lahir. Dia memberikan nama Billie yang seharusnya di tulis Billy. Armstrong adalah satu-satunya anggota di band Green Day yang menggunakan nama aslinya. Kedua temannya, Michael Ryan Pritchard (Mike Dirnt) dan Frank Edwin Wright III (Tré Cool), telah mengganti nama mereka.

Kehidupan pribadi

Pada tahun 2007, Armstrong berumur 35 tahun dan telah menjadi anggota band Green Day selama 18 tahun. Armstrong menikah dengan Adrienne Nesser pada tanggal 2 Juli 1994. Pesta pernikahannya hanya berlangsung selama 5 menit. Satu hari setelah mereka menikah, Adrienne hamil dan pada bulan Maret 1995, ia melahirkan anak pertama mereka, Joseph Marciano Armstrong (lahir 15, Maret, 1995). Tiga tahun kemudian, mereka mempunyai anak kedua, Jakob Danger Armstrong (lahir 12, September 1998).

Adrienne lahir pada bulan Oktober 6, 1969 di Minneapolis, Minnesota. Saudara lelakinya, Steve Nesser, adalah seorang pemain skateboard professional. Adrienne pun mengambil jurusan Sosiologi di Universitas Minnesota. Ketika menonton konser Green Day di Minnesota, Adrienne mendatangi Armstrong dan bertanya padanya dimana dia bisa membeli album mereka. Armstrong terpesona dengan rambut hitam dan panjang milik Adrienne. Sejak hari itu, mereka berdua terus melanjutkan kontak mereka dengan berbicara di telfon. Ciuman pertama mereka menjadi inspirasi Armstrong untuk menulis lagu 2,000 Light Years Away. Lagu 80 juga bercerita tentang Adrienne. Armstrong sudah berkunjung ke Minnesota dua kali untuk mengunjungi Adrienne, tetapi, setelah pacaran satu setengah tahun, mereka tidak bisa bersama lagi karena tempat tinggal mereka terlalu jauh.

Setelah Armstrong dan Adrienne bertunangan, mereka merencanakan pernikahan mereka hanya dalam kurun waktu 2 minggu. Pernikahan mereka dilaksanakan di belakang rumah Armstrong selama 5 menit. Mereka berbulan madu di Hotel Claremont, yang hanya berjarak 10 menit dari rumah mereka.

Sekarang ini, Adrienne sering terlihat di belakang panggung ketika Green Day tampil. Dia juga bekerja bersama Billie Joe untuk sebuah record label bernama Adeline Record dan sebuah clothing line bernama Adeline Street

Masa-masa di Green Day

Di sekolah, Billie dipanggil "Two Dollar Bill", karena dia menjual ganja kepada teman-temannya seharga 2 dollar. Pada tahun 1988, Armstrong membuat band bernama Sweet Children dengan temannya, Mike Dirnt, dan seorang drummer bernama Al Sobrante {John Kiffmeyer}. Pada tahun 1989, mereka mengganti namanya menjadi Green Day, dan membuat rekaman 1,000 Hours, di Lookout! Records. Beberapa bulan kemudian, mereka mengeluarkan sebuah album berjudul "1,039 Smoothed Slappy Hours". Pada tahun 1990, Sobrante keluar dari Green Day karena ingin meneruskan sekolahnya dan digantikan dengan Tré Cool (Frank Edwin Wright III), yang melanjutkan album kedua Green Day, Kerplunk!, memainkan semua lagu kecuali 3 buah lagu.

Kamis, 06 Agustus 2009

BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG

Billie Joe Armstrong (born February 17, 1972, in Oakland, California) is the main songwriter, lead vocalist, and guitarist for the multiplatinum-selling rock band Green Day.

Armstrong grew up in Rodeo, California, the youngest of six children. The official name on his birth certificate is "Billie Joe" rather than the more traditional "William Joseph". His father, Andy Armstrong, was a retired Minor League Baseball catcher, who worked as a jazz musician and truck driver to support the family. He died of lung cancer on September 15, 1982 when Billie Joe was ten. His mother Ollie Armstrong worked as a waitress at Rod's Hickory Pit, where Billie Joe and Mike Dirnt worked during theirteen years.

Billie Joe's interest in music started at a young age. He recorded a song titled "Look For Love" at the age of 5 on Bay Area label Fiat Records. As a teenager he originally was into metal music, but got into punk after hearing the Sex Pistols song Holidays in the Sun. He attended high school at John Swett High School,later attended Pinole Valley High School, and dropped out on February 16, 1990, the day before he turned 18, to pursue his musical career. He was nicknamed "Two Dollar Bill", because he was supplying the school with joints for two dollars, and also played on the football team.

Music Career

In 1987, Armstrong formed a band called Sweet Children with childhood friend Mike Dirnt. In 1989 they joined up with drummer Al Sobrante and become known as Green Day. That same year they recorded the EP 1,000 Hours, on Lookout! Records. Sobrante eventually left Green Day in order to go to college, and was eventually replaced by Tré Cool, who made his debut on Green Day's second album, Kerplunk!. With their next album, Dookie, the band broke through into the mainstream, and have remained one of the most popular rock bands, (and the most successful punk band , of the 1990's and 2000's with over 85 million records sold worldwide

Personal Life

In 1990 while playing a show in Minnesota, Armstrong met local resident Adrienne Nesser when she went up to him after the show, asking where she could buy a copy of the band's album. The two kept in touch over the phone, and Armstrong arranged two tours around Minnesota, simply for the purpose of seeing her. In 1994 she moved to California, and the two became engaged. They were married two weeks later on July 2, 1994. Because of financial issues, the couple spent a week in the Claremont Hotel for their honeymoon, a 10-minute walk away from their house. The day after the wedding, Adrienne found out she was pregnant with their first son. He has two children; Their first son, Joseph Marcicano Armstrong, was born in February 1995 and Jakob Danger (born September 12, 1998).