Green Day's Armstrong talks of 'Idol' experience

AP, Apr 17, 2009 12:00 pm PDT
Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong says the Grammy-winning band was almost too hot for "American Idol" to handle during a performance on the show a few years ago.

In an interview with America Online's Spinner.com, Armstrong says producers were nervous about profanity in John Lennon's "Working Class Hero." Green Day performed the song on the show's finale in 2007.

"We almost got thrown off the show before it even started because they didn't trust us," he said. "It's like, 'Man, we've done this so many times. We can do this.' And finally they're like, 'OK, you guys have to record it before.' So we played to a completely empty room."

Still, Armstrong is a fan of the show, and watches it sometimes. And he had positive comments for this year's hot contestant, Adam Lambert.

Armstrong said he couldn't see the band returning to the Fox network singing competition as a mentor, as some other acts have done.

"Oh, no way. Not in a million years," he said, laughing.

"There are two things I would never do: One is I'll never do my own reality TV show, and two is I'll never watch 'Titanic.' I live in Oakland, not Hollywood," Armstrong said.

"Idol" didn't return a request seeking comment.

Green Day is releasing a new CD, "21st Century Breakdown," on May 15.

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On the Net:

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