Green Day

Green Day began as Sweet Children in Rodeo, California, in 1987 and adopted its current name in 1989. After releasing independent records such as Kerplunk, it reached a mass audience with Dookie in 1994. The band widened punk rock's reach with the rock opera American Idiot in 2004 and kept alternating politically minded records, such as 21st Century Breakdown, with more direct work, such as Revolution Radio.