Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong Loses It, Checks Into Rehab

Billie Joe Armstrong smashes his guitar on stage at the iHeartRadio festival after their set was apparently cut short. (Christopher Polk / Getty Images)

It’s been a rough weekend for Billie Joe Armstrong.

First the Green Day frontman made big news by launching into an f-bomb riddled tirade at the iHeartRadio Festival on Saturday, and by Monday was checked into rehab.

Armstrong had his on stage freakout in the middle of “Basket Case” (the irony of which deserves to be recognized) after realizing the band had been given one minute left to play. The shortened set was initially blamed on organizers extending the amount of time Usher was given to perform.

It was a moment of visceral clarity during what was an otherwise scripted event.

However the next day Green Day released a statement saying the problem did not lie with radio overlords Clear Channel, who put on the event:

Billie Joe is seeking treatment for substance abuse.  We would like everyone to know that our set was not cut short by Clear Channel and to apologize to those we offended at the iHeartRadio Festival in Las Vegas.  We regretfully must postpone some of our upcoming promotional appearances.

Where the blame lies for the shortened set, and exactly what substance Armstrong was being treated for, was not clear.

There was no announcement yet on any tour delays. Green Day is slated to play the Mohegan Sun Arena Saturday, Jan. 19. Tickets are on sale for $42 and $62 through Ticketmaster. The concert should be longer than 25 minutes. (UPDATE: tour dates in January and February have been postponed)

Watch the minutes in question at iHeartRadio below. Warning: the language is quite NSFW.