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An old Green Day chapter has resurfaced almost two decades later: Linda Perry has finally spoken out about the rumor She was slated to produce the follow-up to the 2004 blockbuster album “American Idiot.”
In a new interview with NME, Perry confirmed that she was indeed set to helm the album: she cleared her calendar and even met with frontman Billie Joe Armstrong to discuss the project. But the band abruptly withdrew after news of their involvement leaked and Green Day’s fans became upset, apparently because of Perry’s work with more pop-leaning acts.
“All of a sudden they got backlash from their fans who were upset that they brought in ‘Linda Perry, who produced Pink and Christina Aguilera,'” Perry said. “And then these guys just stopped calling me. I tried to figure out what was going on. Nobody answered. I lost six months of scheduled work. That was so shitty – all because Billie Joe is a little pussy and couldn’t take all the backlash from his fans.”
Courtney Love spilled the beans
As is well known, the origin of this leak was Courtney Love, whose debut solo album “America’s Sweetheart” Perry produced. In a 2007 BBC interview, Love claimed that Perry got “the Green Day job” thanks to their work together, quipping: “That’s a scoop – I just belted it out with my big mouth.”
At the time, Green Day management seemed to promptly deny the rumor and issued a denial to the popular fan blog and forum Green Day Authority. Here in 2026, a spokesperson for Green Day did not immediately respond to ROLLING STONE’s request for comment.
“It happened because I’m a woman and I wrote pop songs,” Perry said of the debacle. “I was disappointed in these guys, and then I was mad at Courtney because if she had just shut up, we would have made the album, it would have come out and spoken for itself. I had a vision and knew I would absolutely scuttle this album.”
Perry’s vision for the album
Perry gave a glimpse into this vision, revealing that she was surprised to learn that Green Day did not record their albums as a band, but rather each member came in individually and recorded their part. “I suggested they get in a circle and go to the Sixties, and I put together a playlist. Love [die Sixties-Rockband] was one of the inspirations on it.” (Perry noted that Green Day actually made a Sixties-leaning album a few years later: 2008’s “Stop Drop and Roll!!!,” released as Foxboro Hot Tubs.)
Ultimately, Perry insisted she was “at peace with” how things turned out, but still called the band’s alleged treatment of her “harsh and disrespectful.” She continued, “Just call me and say, ‘Hey, we’re going in a different direction. I don’t like the backlash.’ Just own it, man. Not returning my calls was such a pussy move and I lost a lot of respect for Billie Joe.”
