“We had no idea what this album would become”: Green Day reflect on 20 years of American Idiot

This weekend, Green Day celebrated the 20th anniversary of their iconic seventh album American Idiot with a massive hometown (or should that be Homecoming?) show in San Francisco.

As part of their incredible Saviors Tour honouring American Idiot and 30 years of Dookie, the band headlined the 42,000-capacity Oracle Park, and acknowledged the two-decade anniversary onstage.

The trio also took to social media for a joint statement about the record, writing: “And just like that 20 years, happy anniversary American Idiot. We had no idea what this album would become, but we knew that it meant something to us, and it clearly resonated with you too. To anyone who’s blasted it in their car, sang it at the top of their lungs, or found a piece of themselves in these songs – thank you.”

Posting about the San Fran show and American Idiot’s birthday, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong said on Instagram: “Bay Area home town homies!!! So grateful to be from East Bay Area!! Like a big family reunion! Happy anniversary American Idiot!! Just like that… 20 years”

Of course, the celebrations don’t stop here, with the American Idiot 20th anniversary release arriving on October 25. It’ll include all sorts of demos, B-sides, bonus songs and live stuff, as well as two films: Heart Like A Hand Grenade, and a new 110-minute documentary entitled 20 Years Of American Idiot.

Take a look at some newly-posted studio footage, too:

In a 2005 interview with Kerrang!, Billie Joe reflected of the instant success of the album: “I think what American Idiot has done for us is really change our history in a lot of ways. It created a new future for us. It’s made all of our albums since Dookie make sense for people who weren’t up to speed with what we were doing. Obviously having all this critical acclaim is a first, but that’s all.”

“Back then [in 1994] success was so new to us that we didn’t know what to do with it,” added Mike Dirnt. “We just wanted to prove we weren’t a flash in the pan. We’ve proved that. Back then I thought we had something to prove; now I think we’ve proved something.”

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