We’re nearly a month into self-quarantine in the US and most everyone is starting to feel a bit claustrophobic. Leave it to Billie Joe Armstrong to help brighten the mood (if not outright mock it) by releasing a new cover of The Bangles’ hit “Manic Monday”.
When he’s not performing at the biggest livestream concert this year, the Green Day singer has been recording music each week as part of his “No Fun Monday” series. He was on a roll with previous solo renditions like “I Think We’ve Alone Now”, but it appears he wanted to change things up this time by bringing someone onboard to collaborate. Turns out he got none other than Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles herself to join him on guitar via video.
In the clip, both musicians can be seen rocking out at home. With his dog sleeping on the couch behind him, Armstrong is sitting on his couch with some serious bedhead while strumming away on his guitar. In the adjacent window of the split screen, Hoffs is busy plucking out her song from memory and singing along. She even throws in a power stance, several jumps, and a handful of head bangs, too. Watch it below.
Last month, Green Day released Father of All Motherfuckers, their thirteenth studio album and first in four years. It sounds like a new record could be arriving much sooner than 2024, though. In an interview with Kerrang!, Armstrong revealed he’s already written six (!) new songs for Green Day during the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’ve been writing a lot of music, and I had all these melodies in my head, so I wrote, like, six songs since all of this has been going on,” he said. “I don’t know when I can get together with Mike and Tré, but I told them to make sure that they’re quarantined for now, and then I hope down the road we can get back in the studio with [producer] Butch Walker.”
Green Day had to scrap several tour dates due to COVID-19, but the punk rock band hopes to get back on the road early this summer for the highly anticipated “Hella Mega Tour”. Grab tickets to all of their upcoming concerts here.
Billie Joe Armstrong Covers “Manic Monday” with The Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs: Stream
Nina Corcoran
