Howard Stern recently discussed money with Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, a big money corporate sponsorship on the Green Day 2020 stadium tour. Is it selling out? It’s a pretty cool way to make money, rock on Green Day!
Billie Joe Armstrong: It’s the first time I’ve ever written about money. There’s a line ‘lying in a bed of blood and money.’
Howard Stern: What are your feelings towards money? You obviously have a lot of it.
Billie: It’s sort of mixed emotions about it. The imposter syndrome or something like that.
Howard: Like you don’t deserve it? Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong forgot lyrics to a song in a new video.
Billie: Well, we come from such broke backgrounds that it’s sort of, for me my Dad was a truck driver, my brother is a plumber, my other brother worked as a custodian and stuff like that. It’s a very working class background, and to have more compared to what I had, it’s sort of a trip.
Howard: Did money become an embarrassing thing? Something almost ashamed of because your success, and also there’s a lot of ‘why me, why did I get this success? So many people in my world don’t have anything.’
Billie: Not ‘why me.’
Howard: In a way, if you think about it for Green Day, whether a political statement, or a sexual statement, whatever the f**k it is, money is probably the last taboo. Money is something you don’t discuss, especially if you don’t come from money. I was always embarrassed, I read in the paper how much money I made. I said, ‘F**k, don’t say that. I don’t want anybody to be jealous of me or think I was privileged growing up.’ I wasn’t, I had nothing.
Howard later discussed Harley Davidson writing a huge check to sponsor the ‘Hella Mega’ Green Day tour with Weezer and Fall Out Boy.
Howard: So that will be presented by Harley Davidson. Do we all ride Harley Davidson?
Billie: We do now.
Howard: You put up that kind of cash, we’ll ride anything. Green Day’s singer was spotted last week with Ozzy Osbourne’s daughter.
