Billie Joe Armstrong was born on Febuary the 17th, 1972. He has 6 brothers and sisters, the youngest, born to his mother at the age of 40. Billie got his first break into the Entertainment business when he was 5, playing at hospices and Old folks homes. He recorded his first single as a cute little kid aged 6 named "Looking for Love" Mike Dirnt, born Michael Pritchard was born on May the 4th 1972. He was then fostered out to an African American family, but at age 7, went to live with his father. Billie Joe and Mike met in 1982, when they were ten. They found they both had a mutual love of punk and heavy metal music, so they used to jam together at weekends and after school. At age 15, Billie and Mike founded the band "Sweet Children" They used to play gigs, often not payed at the diner where Billie's mother worked. They then re - named the band "Green Day"....The origin? The name means a day spent, lazing around and getting high on pot! Then, in their Sopomore year, they packed up and moved to West Oakland, (Inspiration to "Welcome to Paradise") where they hooked up with original drummer, John Kiftmeyer. They then hooked up with Berkleys foremost punk recording label, Lookout!. "39/smooth" the bands first album was then recorded. Billie dropped out of high school on Feb 16, 1990, while Mike stayed on to recieve his high school certificate. John Kiftmeyer was not serious about Green Day, he went on to concentrate on his studies. Billie and Mike then came across Frank Edwin Wright the 3rd, alias Tre Cool. Tre Cool was born on December the 9th, 1972. So in 1991, Tre was signed up, just before the recording of their second album,"Kerplunk" In 1994, their 3rd album was born, "Dookie", now under the major record company of Warner music.Dookie was a major success, selling over 10 million copies. In July 1994, Billie Joe married his girlfriend Adrienne and in March 1995, his son Joey was born. He also has a new baby called Jacob, born in October 1998! Insomniac was written in 1995, and their latest release, Nimrod, which has resently sold over 1 million copies, was released in October 1997.