Mike Dirnt

At 51 years old, Mike Dirnt has this physical status:

Michael Ryan Pritchard (born May 4, 1972), also known as Mike Dirnt, is an American musician, songwriter, and singer.

He is best known as the co-founder, bassist, backing, and occasional lead vocalist of Green Day.

He has appeared in several other bands, including The Frustrators.

His stage name stemmed from a nickname he was given by his classmates from grade school as he often played "air bass" and made a "dirnt, dirnt, dirnt" noise when pretending to pluck the strings.

Early life

As a child, his father was often away earning a degree, while his mother stayed at home to care for him and his sister Myla. Despite regularly missing classes as a result of several ailments related to his biological mother's drug use, Pritchard thrived in school. The couple divorced after an argument between his parents resulted in a call to the police. His mother and sister escaped to Rodeo, California, but his father stayed in El Sobrante, California, while his father stayed in El Sobrante, California. However, since he was missing his mother, he eventually moved in with her and Myla. Dirnt became distraught and furious after the divorce, having been previously described as vibrant and fearless.

Billie Joe Armstrong, a ten-year-old boy from Carquinez Middle School, bonded instantly with him in the cafeteria. Armstrong began playing guitar with Mike, and the two boys spent a lot of time together at Armstrong's house learning songs, including those by the Ramones, Ozzy Osbourne, Hüsker Dü, AC/DC, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Who, and Van Halen. Billie Joe's playing lead guitar, Mike Smith on bass, Sean Hughes on bass, and Raj Punjabi on drums formed a group called "Sweet Children" at the age of 14.

Dirnt transferred from Salesian High School, an all-boys Catholic school for his first year, where Armstrong had also graduated from John Swett High School. Dirnt's family suffered with money problems; in an attempt to help others out, he worked as a chef at Nantucket, a seafood restaurant in Crockett. He eventually saved up enough money to buy a used pickup truck that Armstrong and Armstrong used to drive to Berkeley to attend shows at 924 Gilman Street, the most prominent DIY punk club in Berkeley. Despite their small bodies, the two were able to work as security guards at the club. "We lived and died for that place," Dirnt said. It meant everything at the time.'

Personal life

In 1996, Dirnt married Anastasia Serman, his first wife; they divorced in 1999. Anastasia and Dirnt had a daughter together, Estelle Desiree, who was born on December 20, 1996. In the summer of 2008, he gained complete custody of his daughter and moved her to Oakland.

Sarah Garrity, a bachelor from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, married him in 2004. The two were divorced in the same year.

He married Brittney Cade in a private ceremony in Brittney's hometown of Ojai, California, on March 14, 2009. Two children with Cade are involved: Brixton Michael (born October 11, 2008), and Ryan Ruby Mae (born November 29, 2010).

In an interview, Dirnt admitted that "the majority of his religious beliefs" are based on Star Wars. On Star Wars Day, his birthday is on Star Wars Day. Cliff Burton, Dirnt's favorite bass player, was his dog. He is a member of Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe, a diner in Emeryville and Oakland. The diner was named after a song by punk rock band The Clash's "Rudie Can't Fail" from their album London Calling. The menu item names are loosely based on punk topics such as "God Save the Chicken," a reference to "God Save the Queen" by the Sex Pistols, and "Give 'Em Enough Meatloaf," a reference to Give 'Em Enough Rope by the Clash.

Dirnt was adopted; his biological mother died on January 9, 2013. Dirnt was only able to meet her one month before her death.

Dirnt would co-produce the Indie film Crickets with Green Day manager Pat Magnarella in July 2014.

Dirnt and Billie Joe Armstrong announced in December 2015 that they would launch Oakland Coffee Works, a coffee firm. The company sells organic coffee beans and is the first business to exclusively use 100% compostable bags and pods.

Dirnt is "basically becoming a farmer" in 2020, according to COVID-19 pandemic Armstrong.

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Career

Dirnt and classmate Armstrong formed a band called Sweet Children while attending Pinole Valley High School. Dirnt's mother struggled to care for him and his sister as a single parent, and she eventually had to leave Rodeo in 1987 to look for work. Sweet Children, Armstrong, and Dirnt's parents were persuaded to let Dirnt go into Armstrong's garage, despite the fact that they were unwilling to leave each other's children. Sweet Children debuted on 924 Gilman Street after drummer John Kiffmeyer, who was also known as Al Sobrante, joined the band and replaced original drummer Raj Punjabi. Armstrong was encouraged to drop out of high school in order to concentrate on music, which led him to leave high school to concentrate on music. Dirnt, on the other hand, was worried that he needed a contingency plan and continued his studies. Sean Hughes, a bassist who was not as committed to the group as the others, left Sweet Children, leaving Dirnt to play bass. Dirnt used to take his bass to school, and the unamplified string's squeeling noise prompted classmates to jokingly describe him as "Dirnt." After converting its name to Green Day in 1989, the band released its debut album 39/Smooth over the 1989 Christmas holiday break and launched its first van tour in June 1990, marking the day Dirnt graduated from high school.

Green Day, 1994, ignited a notorious mud fight, in which many supporters invaded the stage. Concert security mistook the mud-soaked Dirnt for a fan and assaulted him, knocking out one of his teeth. Due to this occurrence, Dirnt required emergency orthodontia.

Arion Salazar, a third eye blind bassist, was onstage and "bear-hugged" Dirnt, who was caught off guard while performing at the 1998 KROQ Weenie Roast in Irvine, California. The incident erupted into an on-stage brawl before security escorted Salazar away. Dirnt confronted Salazar backstage, and the two argued that a beer bottle struck Dirnt in the head, resulting in a small fracture in his skull. The bottle-throwing was traced back to a fan of Third Eye Blind, but another eyewitness challenged it later on the following day's Loveline broadcast. Salazar and the band's leadership released a statement shortly: "I am sorry that my attempt at doing something I thought would be amusing turned into Mike getting hurt." That was never my intention. I had just too much to drink and made a bad decision. I'm positive I would have behaved in Mike's situation if I had been in Mike's position. "My heart goes out to him, and I hope he recovers quickly."

During the summer of 2003, Dirnt was assisting with the development of the mysterious Green Day project The Network. The members of Green Day's Green Day band, as well as touring members and friends of the band, comprise a six-piece new wave band. On September 30, 2003, they announced Money Money 2020, their debut album. The band's second album, Money Money 2020 Part II: We Told Ya So!, came after a seventeen-year absence. Dirnt does lead vocals on several of the band's albums, in contrast to his days with Green Day, where he mostly provides backing vocals).

Armstrong calls Dirnt "the greatest bass player in the history of punk rock" on his live album, Bullet in a Bible.

Dirnt, Armstrong, and drummer Tré Cool formed the garage rock group Foxboro Hot Tubs in 2007, during the release of Green Day's eighth studio album 21st Century Breakdown. The band also includes Green Day touring members Jason White, Jason Freese, and Kevin Preston, in addition to the three Green Day attendees. They're back again this week on their debut album, Stop Drop and Roll! In 2008, the country's first lady was crowned. Dirnt performed bass and provided backup vocals on the record.

Dirnt and Armstrong smashed their respective bass and guitar on stage as Armstrong became outraged and ranted about Usher's set being cut short in 2012.

Dirnt and his Green Day bandmates were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of membership on April 18, 2015.

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