Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong has made some comments about Las Vegas, and now the band is facing radio ban because of it.
The frontman shared his hatred for the city with the San Francisco crowd during one of the band’s shows last week. “I f*cking hate Las Vegas. It’s the worst sh*thole in America,” Armstrong said. The rant came after the A’s played their last game at the Oakland Coliseum on September 26. The team has been in Oakland since 1968, but in 2023, MLB owners approved John Fisher’s plan to move them to a new stadium in Las Vegas, set to open in 2028.
This decision came after several failed attempts to build a new stadium in Oakland. Oakland fans reacted fast. Attendance dropped after the move was announced, protests were held urging Fisher to sell the team, and fans shared memories as they got one last chance to watch A’s baseball in Oakland.
One of the people reacting to the matter was Armstrong. However, after the backlash, the rocker took to Instagram to share a picture of his childhood wearing an Oakland A’s hat.
“Me playing in the sand with my Oakland A’s hat. Must be around 6 years old… the athletics leaving Oakland is devastating,” the rocker wrote. “I feel for all the fans and the people that will lose their jobs because of greed… 3 sports teams have left Oakland in the past 5 years Leaving a cultural hole in the East Bay hearts and sport. I DO believe that Oakland will come back from this… I’ll always remember driving to del Norte bart station taking the train to the games. Some of my favorite memories. My 4th grade teacher used to have the radio on in class so we can hear if Ricky Henderson was going to break the stolen base record. He did. Family friends crazy george Billy Ball.”
Armstrong’s rant didn’t sit well with two Las Vegas radio stations. After his comments, both KOMP and KXTE decided to drop Green Day from their playlists. The rocker responded by saying if the team ever left, he would curse the owners but “I would never call the city they were moving to a sh*thole.”
Still, KXTE host Carlota Gonzalez announced that the station was getting rid of any Green Day material from its records. “Maybe he should take a look at the city and the people involved in that transaction than talking SMACK about the city of Las Vegas,” Gonzalez said during her announcement. “And hey, I hate to say it and as much as the Raiders suck but when they were in Oakland, they were worth a billion or two. Now they’re worth six. It was a good business decision and the A’s want some of that and I don’t blame that.”
Green Day is set to tour with the Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid, and the Linda Lindas. It’s not clear if any of the band members would change their minds about touring with the band after Armstrong’s comments, though.