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Billie Joe Armstrong is his real name, despite the fact that some may believe it
is William Joseph. He was born on February 17, 1972 and is the youngest of 6 children. It is said that Billie's Mother misspelled
his name on his birth certificate because she was high at the time! He had a love of music at a very young age - when he was
just 5 years old, he performed in hospitals to cheer patients up. His mother was a waitress at Rod's Hickory Pit and enjoyed
country music. When Billie was just 10 years old, his Father, a truck driver and jazz musician, passed away from cancer. Before
he passed away, he gave Billie Joe his first electric guitar, which he calls "Blue" and still plays even today
Billie started getting into punk rock when a few kids in town let him listen to tapes
they had. He met Mike Dirnt at school when he was 10 years old and they became fast friends. They shared a love for music
and decided to start a band. The rest is history! At age 12, Billie wrote his first song, "Why Do You Want Him?" which is
included on "1,039 Smoothed Out, Slappy Hours."
In 1990, Billie met his soon-to-be girlfriend, Adrienne Nesser at a concert they were
playing. In the summer of 1994, they were married in a ceremony that lasted only 5 minutes! In March of 1995, they had their
fist son, Joseph Marcicano Armstrong. Green Day's 4th album, "Insomniac," was released later that year, and named so because
Billie said he has many sleepless nights with his son! On September 12th, 1998, Billie and Adrienne had their second son,
Jacob Danger Armstrong.
In addition to playing guitar and singing lead vocals, Billie can also play the piano,
harmonica, drums, and mandolin. He is also the co-founder and part-owner of the record label "Adeline Records."
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