Billie Joe Armstrong Talks About Decision To Enter Rehab

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By Mack Rawden
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Last year, Billie Joe Armstrong flipped out at the iHeartRadio festival in Las Vegas after Green Day’s set was cut short to make time for other performers. He ranted and raved on stage and even destroyed his instruments. Initially, most observers thought the meltdown was nothing more than a petulant and overly opinionated rock star speaking his mind, but after Armstrong checked into rehab, it became clear the incident was evidence of a much larger problem.

This week, in an interview with Rolling Stone, Armstrong confirmed the iHeartRadio festival was the tipping point and said both his wife and his manager made it very clear that what happened crossed a line.

"I remember tiny things. The next morning, I woke up. I asked [my wife] Adrienne, "How bad was it?" She said, "It's bad." I called my manager. He said, "You're getting on a plane, going back to Oakland and going into rehab immediately."

There are plenty of rock stars who are known for being messes. Apparently, Armstrong was more of a quiet mess. He went out, did his job but then apparently got to drinking and the alcohol mixed with prescription drugs would lead him to wake up in strange houses on strange couches without many memories of what happened the night before. One of those evenings every once in awhile might be fine, but once it started becoming a habit, he knew he needed to change.

Here’s to hoping Billie Joe leaves the past behind him and moves forward into a positive mental space absent drugs and alcohol.

Mack Rawden
Mack Rawden
Editor In Chief

Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.