10/19/2012
Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt has spoken out again about frontman Billie Joe Armstrong's current stint in rehab and the effect it's had on the band. In a new interview with Kerrang! magazine, Dirnt said, "Billie doesn't take things lightly and he wouldn't take rehab lightly, either. He's in the middle of some really big things, but we're going to pull through. It's killing everyone. Green Day has never been a band that sits still, but sometimes you have to step back and let life go on rather than try to control everything."
- Dirnt admitted that it's been hard for the band to postpone shows, but added, "I know that my friend's life is in danger and that's all I care about. We're brothers-in-arms waiting for Billie to return healthy, but we're not going to force anything. Tre(Cool, drummer) and I will be standing here for Billie."
- Armstrong sought treatment for substance abuse last month following his profanity-filled meltdown at a radio festival in Las Vegas on September 21st.
- The head of Green Day's record label, Rob Cavallo, told Rolling Stone recently that Armstrong's road to recovery may take longer than anyone anticipated, saying, "His doctors are still evaluating. All I can say is I don't know if we'll see him before or after Christmas. It's basically undetermined when he'll be back."
- Green Day has already canceled a headlining October 27th gig at next weekend's Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans, and the start of the band's North American tour on November 26th in Seattle could be in jeopardy as well.
- The first of Green Day's three new albums, Uno!, was issued on September 25th and has sold 184,000 copies since its release. The second disc, Dos! is expected to arrive on November 13th, withTre! due out on January 15th.
|