Green Day is no longer just another alternative or punk band of the nineties, with a fan base that borders on cultish. During the resurgence of punk music in California, they found an audience with catchy riffs and often controversial lyrics. Despite their roots in the punk rock scene, they defied the punk mindset, signed a major record deal and have enjoyed bigger and bigger success over the years. Now they are the most influential punk band in the modern era.

The Green Day trio originally formed in 1987 with the name Sweet Children. They started out playing local shows and were discovered by and signed two years later by Lookout! Records and recorded their first EP, “1,000 hours”. Around that time, they began performing under the name Green Day to avoid confusion with a similarly named local band. The rest is rock and roll history. Green Day has gone on to release 8 studio albums and 31 singles. They have sold over 22 million records in the United States alone.

The trio that makes up Green Day include front man Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool. Three guys who started out together with big dreams, the same dreams as thousands of small bands that star every year, but Green Day managed to find success and spread their music to a huge fan base. Now they are another band with longevity that young musicians can emulate.

Now the band is working their first worldwide tour in three years. The tour starts with a concert in Seattle before heading all over the United states and the world, promoting their latest album. The release, titled “21st Century Breakdown” boasts five hit singles and over twelve million copies sold.

Despite their roots in an alternative genre, Green Day has taken their catchy brand of punk to the masses, and along the way, achieved iconic status. Now Green Day is one of the established bands of the last two decades, a far cry from being a small band trying to make it in California.

This year’s tour includes a concert in Boston at TD Banknorth Garden on July 20, 2009. The show starts at 7:30 PM, and the best place to find tickets is by using a tool like TicketZinger.com, which shows all of the various ticket services prices at one time.