There appears to be no love lost between Green Day and Las Vegas after the seminal rock band burned the city to the ground in response to the Oakland Athletics moving there. And now at least two local Las Vegas radio stations have banned Green Day from rotation.
Those remarks came during a concert at San Francisco's Oracle Park on Sept. 20, just days before the A's played their final game in Oakland. Accordingly PeopleLead singer Billie Joe Armstrong told the crowd in no uncertain terms: “We don't get any pushback from people like John fucking King Fisher, who sold the Oakland A's to Las Vegas. I hate it. Las Vegas is the worst hole in America.”
Armstrong was dragging A's owner John Fisher, who was unpopular among A's fans, after announcing in April that the team would move to Vegas after more than 50 years in Oakland. In the A's final game at the Oakland Coliseum on September 26, the crowd collectively chanted “F–k John Fisher.”
In Las Vegas, construction is set to begin in the spring on a new, state-of-the-art stadium at the Tropicana site that closed earlier this year. The new stadium will cost an estimated $1.5 billion and is planned to open in the 2028 season.
In response to the slight, Vegas rock station KOMP 92.3 announced on Instagram last week that it was “removing the entirety of Green Day from our playlist.” The post added: “It's not us, Billie… it's you.”
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Similarly, alternative rock station X 107.5 declared on its website that “in response to Armstrong's inflammatory comments, the station has banned all Green Day music, effective immediately.”
“Maybe instead of talking SMACK about the city of Las Vegas, he (Billie Joe) should take a look at the city and the people involved in this transaction,” midday host Carlota said on air last Wednesday. I hate to say it, and as much as the Raiders suck, but they were worth a billion or two when they were in Oakland. They're worth six now. “It was a good business decision and the A's want some of that and I don't blame it.”
In a recent Instagram post, Armstrong shared a photo of himself wearing an A cap when he was about six years old.
“The athletics leaving Oakland is devastating,” he lamented. “I feel sorry for all the fans and people who will lose their jobs because of greed. Three sports teams have left Oakland in the past five years, leaving a cultural void in the hearts of the East Bay and in sports.” In addition to the Raiders' move to Las Vegas, Armstrong was also referencing the Golden State Warriors' return to San Francisco in 2019.
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It looks like Green Day will continue to thrive as a rock band despite being banned by two Las Vegas radio stations. Still, it could definitely make it awkward the next time they play a show there.