Mike Dirnt Mike Dirnt is the bass player from

Mike Dirnt

Mike Dirnt is the bass player from California punk trio Green Day. His simple yet effective punk basslines, played on a variety of Fender® Precision® basses, have been the cornerstone of the band's sound that has propelled them to international status.

Michael Ryan Pritchard was born in California, USA on May 4th, 1972. Adopted at an early age, Mike met future Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong during 5th Grade and the pair promptly became the best of friends. After a short while, Mike found himself renting a room at Billie's house and working alongside Billie's mum at a fast food restaurant called Rod's Hickory Pit!

In 1986, Dirnt and Armstrong out together their first band, Sweet Children, which started gigging at the all-ages clubs on Gilman Street, Berkeley, in their native California.

Three years later, under the new moniker Green Day, they recorded their first E.P 1,000 hours, which took only two days to make!

After graduating, Dirnt and Armstrong started squatting together in Oakland, California and released their first album, 39/Smooth, with drummer Al Sobrante (real name: Jon Kiffmeyer) on the local indie label Lookout! Soon after the album's release, Sobrante quit the band and was replaced by their close friend, Tre Cool (born Edwin Wright III), who had been playing drums with local band, The Lookouts since he was twelve years of age.

Cool made his Green Day debut on the band's second album, Kerplunk (1991). It sold over 50,000 records through word of mouth and underground media support.

Their next album was their first signing to major label Reprise records, and after five national tours spent driving coast to coast in their renovated mobile library and a rapidly growing fanbase, their time had come. Dookie (1994) was a full-bodied punk album, true to the spirit of 1977, full of short and simple songs. (The album clocked in at just 39 minutes). Dookie went on to sell more than 10 million copies in the U.S. alone, and the band won a Grammy in 1994 for "Best Alternative Music Performance." ‘94 also saw the band turn in numerous high-profile live performances, including appearances at Lollapalooza and Woodstock.

Their next offering, Insomniac (1994) continued in the same excellent vain, while their 1997 album Nimrod saw them diversify while still staying true to their punk roots. Tracks like the surf-style instrumental, Last Ride added a new breadth to their work, while the string section of Good Riddance was featured prominently on an episode of U.S hospital drama ER and the final instalment of cult sitcom Seinfield.

Their next instalment, 2000's Warning was a departure from their punk roots, contrary to the band's claims.

A greatest hits album, International Superhits (2001) neatly summarised their first decade, followed by 2002's Shenanigans, which featured Espionage (used on the soundtrack to Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me).

Mike Dirnt continues to tour and record, both with Green Day and with his own band, The Frustrators.

At the annual 2004 NAMM trade show in Anaheim, California, the Mike Dirnt Signature Bass was revealed.

On Sept 21, 2004, the band released their politically-charged American Idiot album to great acclaim.