Adrienne Armstrong

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Adrienne Armstrong (born Adrienne Nesser, October 6, 1969) is the co-owner of Adeline Records and Adeline Street. She is also the wife of Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong.

1 Relationship with Billie Joe Armstrong
2 Adeline Street
3 Trivia
4 References

[edit] Relationship with Billie Joe Armstrong

Adrienne met Billie Joe at a Green Day concert on their first tour in 1990, after she asked the singer where she could get a copy of Green Day's album. The two began communicating over the phone, which involved Adrienne discussing her human sexuality class with the younger Armstrong. The first kiss between the two led to an early Green Day song, "2000 Light Years Away".

The long distance relationship dissolved and Billie Joe began seeing a girl that would later inspire the Green Day hit "She". Adrienne became engaged to another man, but no wedding transpired.

After arranging many Green Day Minnesota tours for the purpose of seeing Adrienne, Billie Joe asked her to come out to California^[1], inspiring the song "Westbound Sign" from Insomniac. They wed two weeks later on July 2, 1994. The backyard ceremony lasted five minutes, with many different religions represented. Billie Joe remembered their wedding by saying that, "Adrienne just got this ratty old dress and we got married in my backyard." The day after their wedding, Adrienne found out that she was pregnant.

Their first son, Joseph Marciano, was born in February 1995^[2]^[3]. On September 12, 1998, a second son, Jakob Danger, was born to the family.

Songs like "Redundant" and "Church on Sunday" chronicle the struggles Adrienne and Billie Joe faced during album recording. The making of American Idiot, as Adrienne claimed in the VH1 documentary Driven, "took [their] relationship further than [she] would've liked."

Her current projects are with Adeline Records, her clothing line Adeline Street, and activism with the Natural Resources Defense Council^[4].

[edit] Adeline Street

Adrienne began her career in fashion at the age of 17, when she worked at a recycled clothing store in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Speaking of her early experiences with creating clothes in a June 2006 interview, she commented, "I would bring home bags of clothes and cut them up. I wrecked so many cool clothes trying to make stuff." Adrienne also states that she "had a specific idea of [her] own style and always worked on creating clothes that [she] liked regardless of any trends happening." ^[5]

Adrienne claims to have an "eclectic fashion sense," and has stated several times that both she and her husband "wear things that [they] like, regardless if they're from a thrift store, Target, or [Christian] Dior." The Green Day song, 'Fashion Victim,' released on the band's 2000 Warning: album deals with today's fashion scene and the amount of time and money people will spend just to fit in. When asked about the importance of fashion in the punk scene, Adrienne commented: "I don't really think fashion is that important. There are definitely people out there who think it's all about what you wear, from the predictable punk dress code to the high-end designer labels. I don't like labels in general, they're too confining. I like being at a shitty punk show as much as fancy award shows and I don't dress up to fit in. I just wear what I like, regardless of where I am or what I am doing." ^[6]

Adeline Street took off in February 2005, as an extension of Adeline Records and quickly graduated from basic band merchandise into a full line of men's and women's clothing. The line is largely influenced by the Armstrongs' passion for individual style, and is a collaborative effort between the couple. Adrienne describes Billie Joe as being "more of an idea man," in the process saying that she is "the follow through," in the duo. Adrienne works on the women's, children's, and accessories lines, but also plays a part in the men's line. The line can be bought through several stores across the country, and online through several websites. A percentage of the quarterly proceeds go to charities.^[7]

[edit] Trivia

Her brother, Steve Nesser, is a professional skateboarder and makes his own line of skate boards.
She was the manager of Pier 1 Imports in the early 90s.^[8]
She has a degree in Sociology from Minnesota State University, Mankato.^[9]
She is currently working with the Green Day + NRDC project and recently composed a video[1] raising awareness about every day things people can do to help save the environment.