Green Day swap lyrics of hit song to mock Elon Musk in his home country
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Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong once again distanced his band from the ‘Elon agenda’. Green Day have taken lyrical aim at Elon Musk while performing in his home country of South Africa. The band’s frontman Billie Joe Armstrong reportedly switched a line in their 2004 hit “American Idiot” from “I’m not a part of the redneck agenda” to “I’m not a part of the Elon agenda.”.
The show was part of the Calabash 2025 festival, which saw Green Day headline alongside The Offspring and local group Fokofpolisiekar. The Independent has approached Green Day for comment. The day after Green Day’s performance, Musk made headlines around the world when he was accused of giving a “Nazi salute” during an inauguration celebration for Donald Trump. In response, his former partner, the Canadian musician Grimes, said she was “happy to denounce Nazi-ism.”.
This is not the first time Green Day have made a lyrical change to “American Idiot.” At a New Year’s Eve performance in 2023, the band took the stage at Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve and changed the line to: “I’m not part of the MAGA agenda.”.
The change upset Musk at the time, who tweeted: “Green Day goes from raging against the machine to milquetoastedly raging for it.”. In response, Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt told Rolling Stone: “Elon Musk actually is the machine. I can’t take anything else from that. He’s not shy about saying stupid s*** on the internet. Whatever.”.
