Green Day Record "21 Guns" With "American Idiot" Musical Cast

Before the American Idiot musical travels cross-country from Berkeley to Broadway, Green Day will shoot a video for a new version of the 21st Century Breakdown single "21 Guns" with the cast of the show, the band announced on their official Website. The band rerecorded the track with the stage performers, with Billie Joe Armstrong producing. The new version of the song is expected to hit radio and digital services by the end of November.

Go backstage with Green Day: exclusive tour photos.

After premiering on September 4th, the American Idiot musical was extended several times due to "record-breaking sales and unprecedented demand for seats" at California's Berkeley Rep. American Idiot went on to become the Rep's top-grossing show in its history. The curtain finally fell on the Idiot musical November 15th, but not before the show's producers and lead actor revealed plans to bring the musical from the band's native Berkeley to Broadway, Rolling Stone reported. "There is a Broadway future for the show, but at this time no dates or theater are confirmed," the show's spokesman Michael Hartman said.

Idiot director Michael Mayer, who won the Tony Award for Spring Awakening, will also hold the same role when the musical comes to the Great White Way. Actor John Gallagher Jr., who stars as the lead Johnny in American Idiot, will also remain with the show when it comes to the Big Apple.

Meet the cast of the American Idiot musical.

Related Stories:
• Green Day's "American Idiot" Musical Heading to Broadway
• Green Day Talk "American Idiot" as Musical Debuts: On the Scene at the Berkeley Rep
• The Birth of Green Day's "American Idiot" Musical

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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