Billie Joe Armstrong is still in rehab for ‘substance abuse’. In honor of this truly brave act I am refraining from my usual ‘hater’ posts about Green Day. I respect anyone who seeks help and would never resort in kicking them when their down. The moment Armstrong is well and strong though, he is back to fair game.
As much as I am not a fan, I still found quotes from band mate Mike Dirnt to be rather sweet. Of course, his paycheck is on hold until Billie stands up but still its not often we hear or see a true bromance with any sort of sincerity. These guys are old men now, in a sense. They have been together forever, its sad it took this long for the recovery to begin but at least it has begun.
Mike spoke to the BBC discussed numerous topics including the cancellation of shows and historic events.
"I'm sure Billie's had it really rough. There's been very little contact between us, so I guess I'm just generalising, but it's a pretty heavy-duty process,' the bassist told BBC Radio One.
"This is probably the longest time we haven't seen each other – I haven't seen Billie in weeks. It's an awkward position to be in, but we're going to pander this out. We'll get there."
Billie's breakdown came during a world tour, where the band was promoting their three new albums.
Green Day had just come off Reading Fest in the UK, and Mike worries the workload pushed his band mate over the edge.
"Although we were having fun we didn't take our nose out of the book for a long time,' he confessed.
"I think it catches up with you a little bit. We definitely just jumped off a moving train. There were signs of things hitting the fan. We hadn't slept in forever and Billie had definitely had the worst of it. He'd been going through his own struggles. We were there with him but you can only handle things on your own. At the end of the day when we got off the road the most important.”
Get well so I can hate you all again.