Personalities | Green Day | Broadening Horizons (2007) | Key Events

June

Lennon’s ‘Working Class Hero’

In June 2007, the album Instant Karma was released to raise money for the Amnesty International campaign to raise money to help those caught up in the conflict in Darfur, Sudan. The album featured covers of John Lennon songs performed by various artists, ranging from Aerosmith’s take on ‘Give Peace A Chance’ to Green Day performing ‘Working Class Hero’. ‘Its themes of alienation, class and social status really resonated with us,’ stated Billie Joe, ‘It’s such a raw, aggressive song ... we felt we could really sink our teeth into it.’ The band had to pre-record the song for broadcast on the final of American Idol on 23 May, as producers were terrified that Billie Joe would swear on live TV.

December

Foxboro Hot Tubs

Before writing and recording a follow-up to American Idiot, Green Day created another side-project called the Foxboro Hot Tubs. This band, named after one of Green Day’s youthful hangout spots in their native Bay Area, appeared on the radar after setting up a MySpace page in October 2007 and a free six-track EP was available for download in December 2007. ‘The only similarity between Green Day and Foxboro Hot Tubs is that we are the same band,’ Billie Joe told NME in 2008. This extended to touring band members Jason White, Jason Freese and Prima Donna frontman Kevin Preston.

Personalities | Introducing Green Day
Personalities | Green Day | Broadening Horizons (2008) | Key Events

Source: Green Day Revealed, by Ian Shirley

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