Father of All Motherfuckers

Father of All Motherfuckers, Green Day’s thirteenth studio album, came out on February 7, 2020, via Reprise Records. Butch Walker, the band, and Chris Dugan handled production. The record ditches the band’s usual punk rock style for a garage rock sound reminiscent of their 2012 album ¡Dos!. Three singles preceded it: “Father of All…,” “Fire, Ready, Aim,” and “Oh Yeah!” It hit number one on the UK Albums Chart and the Australian ARIA Albums Chart, among others. Critics were split—some liked its fast pace and energy, while others panned the lyrics and short runtime.

Billie Joe Armstrong started writing new songs for the album in December 2018. The band recorded sixteen tracks but struggled to make them flow together, so they cut it to ten. Armstrong said they wanted a “sort of old-timey rock ’n’ roll record” tracing rock history, inspired by acts like T. Rex, Mott the Hoople, Martha and the Vandellas, and garage rock. He described the sound as somewhere between Prince and MC5. He called the album “The New! Soul, Motown, glam and manic anthemic. Punks, freaks and punishers!” and said the lyrics are about “the life AND death of the party” and “the lifestyle of not giving a fuck.” Writers have tagged it as garage rock, alternative rock, garage punk, pop rock, and pop punk. At 26 minutes and 12 seconds, it’s Green Day’s shortest album.

The cover reuses art from their 2004 album American Idiot. Armstrong wrote the full title on the arm but covered “motherfuckers” with a drawing of a unicorn. A limited edition dropped the unicorn for an uncensored version.

The lead single, “Father of All…,” dropped on September 10, 2019, with a video nine days later. “Fire, Ready, Aim” came out on October 9 as the theme for NBCSN’s Wednesday Night Hockey and the album’s second single. NBCSN also used the title track during highlights. The third single, “Oh Yeah!,” arrived on January 16, 2020, with a video. It samples Joan Jett’s cover of “Do You Wanna Touch Me” (originally by Gary Glitter). Because of Glitter’s sexual abuse history and convictions, the band donated royalties from the song to International Justice Mission and RAINN. The track also served as a theme for WWE’s 2020 Backlash. On the album’s release day, a video for “Meet Me on the Roof” came out, featuring Gaten Matarazzo.

To promote the album, Green Day announced the Hella Mega Tour with Fall Out Boy and Weezer.