Billie Joe Armstrong, frontman of the pop-punk band Green Day, checked himself into rehab to treat his substance abuse. This happened after the Green Day singer had a stage meltdown at the iHeart Radio Music Festival on September 21 in Las Vegas.

The band has sold more than 65 million records worldwide since its formation in the 1980s, and won five Grammy Awards. The track that consecrated them as giants of the music industry in 1994 was ‘Basket Case.’

At one point in the by now notorious Las Vegas performance, Green Days’ lead singer stopped the music and started freaking out with the producers because of their alleged request for Green Day to cut their set due to other bands’ performances.

“Oh fuck this shit. I’m gonna play a fucking new song. Fuck this shit. Give me a fucking break. One minute left. You’re gonna give me one fucking minute?” Armstrong said, continuing with “Let me tell you something, I’ve been around since fucking 198-fucking-8. And you’re gonna give me one fucking minute? You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me! You’re fucking kidding me. What the fuck! I’m not fucking Justin Bieber, you motherfuckers.”

He then went on to smash his guitar in anger and concluded with “One minute. God fucking love you all. We’ll be back.”

In response to this action, a statement on Green Day’s website appeared, which reads “Billie Joe is seeking treatment for substance abuse. We would like everyone to know that our set was not cut short by Clear Channel and to apologise to those we offended at the iHeartRadio Festival in Las Vegas.”

The meltdown comes at a critical time for the band. Green Day is preparing for the release of three new albums within the next four months.

As announced on their official website, Green Day will be postponing promotional appearances scheduled for the first album of the trilogy ¡Uno!, released on September 24. “We regretfully must postpone some of our upcoming promotional appearances.” There is no certainty yet about how this will affect the upcoming tour, which is scheduled to kick off in Seattle on November 26 before heading to Europe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ttobb9APqg

Image Courtesy of  Victoria Morse | VICTORIAMORSE.NET

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About the author

Veronica Cinti
Italian native, extremely passionate about music in general. Although she appreciates a wide variety of music genres, her strongest field of expertise is Rock music, Grunge and Punk among its styles. Contact the author: veronica.cinti@toonarimedia.com; Follow Veronica on Twitter: @VeronicaCinti