Billie Joe Armstrong Returning to 'American Idiot' Musical for 50 More Shows

In a sign that the Green Day musical American Idiot is still struggling, producers announced Tuesday that they are bringing back lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong for another 50 performances. Armstrong — who performed the role of St. Jimmy for a week in September — will reprise his stint for dates in January and February.

Video: Green Day on American Idiot

After debuting at Berkeley's Repertory Theater in 2009, American Idiot moved to Broadway earlier this year, beginning previews in March and officially opening the following month. The Michael Mayer-directed musical was nominated for three Tony Awards and won two, for best sets and lighting.

But the show has struggled to bring in crowds. As Rolling Stone wrote in September, "Playing St. Jimmy amounts to Armstrong's biggest show of support yet for the show, which last week played to half-full houses. (Last night appeared to be sold out.)" After the show, a "massive mob waited for Armstrong to emerge." Presumably Armstrong's return will inspire a similar burst of enthusiasm from the band's hardcore fans.

Video: Green Day's American Idiot Musical: Meet the Show's Rocker Cast

Billie Joe Armstrong to join Idiot for 50 shows [Associated Press]

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Song Stories

“Helen Wheels”

Paul McCartney | 1973

A rollicking good-time hard rocker, "Helen Wheels" was not about a woman but about Paul McCartney's Land Rover, the anthemic chorus voicing the vehicle's reckless joy as "she" took to the road. The song was added to the U.S. version of Band on the Run but was issued only as a single in McCartney's native U.K. "I like that because it's a British road song and there's not many of those around," said McCartney. "It's always Route 66. But Carlisle? How many songs have got Carlisle in them?"

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