Green Day’s American Idiot was released on the 20th September 2004, making the album a decade old this month. It was the band’s first number one UK album, and has since achieved multi-platinum certification in over ten countries. Five singles were released from the album, including the 9-minute epic, ‘Jesus of Suburbia’, and ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’, which was named Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards of 2006.
In 2009, a stage musical adaptation of American Idiot premiered at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. The one-act musical transferred to Broadway at the St. James Theatre the following year, and closed in 2011 after 422 performances.
Fans would have to wait 5 years for Green Day’s next album, 21st Century Breakdown, which also reached number one in the UK and US, among a number of other countries. The band’s most recent studio release came in the form of a trio of albums, ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tre! in 2012, but American Idiot still remains their most commercially successful album to date.
Watch the video for ‘American Idiot’ below.
