Last month during Green Day’s show in Johannesburg, South America (Elon Musk’s home country), frontman Billie Joe Armstrong took a swipe at the world’s richest man. While performing “American Idiot,” Armstrong changed the lyrics to “I’m not part of an Elon agenda.”
Now, while speaking with Billboard on the 2025 Grammys red carpet on Sunday (February 2nd), Armstrong was asked about the incident and how Green Day uses their music to be “representations of what a lot of people feel.”
“I think ‘American Idiot’ is like… It just sort of takes on a life of its own. And, so, anytime that there’s like, I mean after a protest song, anytime there’s some trouble in the world and times of uncertainty, I think a lot of people connect to that song,” Armstrong replied.
“You know, you can change a lyric here, or change it there, and then all of a sudden it just becomes current again,” he added.
The band was then asked what advice they would give to those who feel frustrated by Musk and the things they see him doing when they scroll through X (formally known as Twitter) – which Musk owns.
“Take a break. Stay off of social media for a while. I think one of the worst things in the world is the anxiety, especially that we all feel collectively, and I think it has a lot to do with social media freaking us out even more,” Armstrong said. “And then all of a sudden, you just realize, you go and you hang out with a friend and you just make those connections that you’re supposed to make. That’s what human beings are supposed to do… Go to the record store, that always makes me feel good.”
Green Day changing the lyrics to “American Idiot” is nothing new, with the band previously changing the original lyrics “I’m not a part of a redneck agenda” to “I’m not part of a MAGA agenda” on multiple occasions in the last few years in protest of Donald Trump.