Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong knows his enemy, and at the band’s Sept. 20 hometown-adjacent show at Oracle Park in San Francisco he had no problem calling out the man he thinks is a real American idiot.
“We are East Bay. East Bay for life! Green Day, East Bay, forever. We don’t take s–t from people like f–king John Fisher, who sold out the Oakland A’s to Las f–king Vegas,” Armstrong said during the show, according to reports. “I f–king late Las Vegas. It’s the worst sh–hole in America!”
For some context, Armstrong is from Oakland and has been a A’s supporter over the years (see below) and like a lot of East Bay residents, he’s a basket case about the latest major league team leaving his beloved home town. After wrapping their 2023-24 season with a loss to the Seattle Mariners on Sunday, A’s owner Fisher is moving the MLB franchise to Las Vegas, following on the heels of the 2019 exit of the NFL’s Raiders (now the Las Vegas Raiders) and the Golden State Warriors (who moved across the bay to San Francisco in 2019 after 50 years in Oakland).
The rant didn’t sit well with a few radio stations in Vegas, as evidence by KOMP 92.3 and X107.5 both announcing that they have banned the group’s music. “KOMP 92.3 has pulled any and all Green Day from our playlist. It’s not us, Billie…it’s you. #vegas4ever,” the station wrote on Instagram in a post that featured a snap of the trio with a slash through the image.
“Sin City heard him loud and clear—and X107.5 is not having it. In response to Armstrong’s inflammatory comments, the station is banning all Green Day music, effective immediately,” 107.5 wrote on its website. The move was confirmed by midday host Carlota, who announced the ban last week, saying, “Maybe he (Billie Joe) should take a look at the city and the people involved in that transaction than talking SMACK about the city of Las Vegas… So we’re breaking up with Green Day completely. Bye Bye, Billie!”
A few days after his Vegas rant, Armstrong posted a picture of himself as a six-year-old playing with a toy car in the sand while rocking an A’s hat. “The athletics leaving Oakland is devastating. I feel for all the fans and the people that will lose their jobs because of greed.. 3 sports teams have left Oakland in the past 5 years Leaving a cultural hole in the east bay hearts and sport,” said Armstrong.
“I DO believe that Oakland will come back from this.. I’ll always remember driving to del Norte bart station taking the train to the games. Some of my favorite memories,” he continued. “My 4th grade teacher used to have the radio on in class so we can hear if Ricky Henderson was going to break the stolen base record. He did. Family friends crazy george Billy Ball.. This one hurts.”
In August, Armstrong first said good riddance to the team when he spray painted a “B” over the Oakland A’s logo at Rogers Centre in Toronto in the first sign of his pique about the team’s move. After wrapping the North American dates on their Saviors Tour, GD are gearing up to take their show on the road to Mexico on Nov. 15 for a show at Corona Capital in Mexico City, then to South Africa, the UAE, Bangkok, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan and Australia in early 2025 before playing a series of festivals in India, Germany and Norway.
A spokesperson for the band had no additional comment on the bans at press time.
