Rock stars are not known for being placid and diplomatic, but the lead singer of rock band Green Day really pushed the limits at a recent concert in the California Bay Area and cost his band airplay on the city’s radio stations.
During a recent performance frontman Billie Joe Armstrong told the audience that he hated Las Vegas, which he called the “worst sh*t hole in America.” This was seemingly provoked by Armstrong’s displeasure at learning that the baseball team the Oakland As would be leaving their home city and taking up residence in Las Vegas.
That opened the floodgates for more of Armstrong’s views on Sin City. Dropping the f-word, he said he hated Las Vegas and it was the worst place in the country.
Well, Las Vegas disc jockeys were not amused and several radio stations said they’re taking Green Day’s tracks off their playlists. A manager for station X107.5 said the station was “taking action” after the insult from the rocker. “No more Green Day on X107.5!” the station said, noting the band’s music is now band on their station.
The same went for KOMP 92.03, which said it was sad to pull the band’s music because the station “has always embraced Green Day” since they debuted in the early 1990s. “We’ve always shown them love,” said the station in a post on Facebook.
The station continued, lobbing some insults back at Armstrong. It called him a middle-aged “so-called punk rocker who knows he’s a fraud.” Armstrong has not really been “punk rock” for three decades, said one KOMP host, “and it kills him.”
Those on the conservative side of politics might argue that Armstrong and other allegedly “anti-system” bands are now the very system they claim to be fighting against. The vast majority of entertainers—actors, singers, and others—are conspicuously left-leaning, but they are embracing political figures that they used to call monsters. For example, celebrities who bash Donald Trump seem almost giddy to know that former Vice President Dick Cheney endorses Kamala Harris.
Widely known as the architect of the disastrous war on Iraq in a muddled response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Cheney was despised by liberals. Until he wasn’t, which coincided with his endorsement of Harris for president this month.
