Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong launches new Les Paul Junior guitar

Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong has collaborated with Gibson to recreate one of his beloved guitars.

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Named the Billie Joe Armstrong Les Paul Junior, the new guitar is a replica of the punk icon’s own 1950s Les Paul model, which he is commonly seen sporting on stage.

“The single cut 50’s Les Paul Junior has been the root of my guitar tone for over 20 years,” he said. “Ever since I bought ‘Floyd’, my 1956 Sunburst Junior, in the early 2000’s I have been addicted. It’s a simple, raw, and powerful guitar that has a sound that just can’t be beat! Plug it straight into any tube amp, crank it and it will roar!”

Designed for both punk and rock guitarists, the model has some similarities to Armstrong’s previous signature Les Paul Junior, released back in 2018. This is seen with specs including a mahogany body, rosewood fretboard, and neck that comes in the guitarist’s own “slim taper” profile.

Unlike the 2018 model, however, the 2023 model now sports a P-90 DC Dogear pick-up – something which manufacturer Gibson says better captures the sound of Armstrong’s own 1956 guitar.

Available now for $2,199 (£1,789), the Billie Joe Armstrong Les Paul Junior comes in two colourways: Silver Mist and Vintage Ebony Gloss. A custom-designed hardshell case is also included, which has a pink exterior and outlandish leopard-print interior. Find out more on Gibson’s website.

Last November, Green Day confirmed that they have been working on a new studio album. Posted on the punk veterans’ TikTok, the trio announced that their upcoming 14th studio album was recorded between Los Angeles and London. Further details regarding the name and release date have not yet been revealed.

This came after the group previewed a snippet of new music in a brief video on social media. At one point in the upload, the year “1972” was scrawled onto a studio wall – referring to when each band member was born. The band had also shared footage of themselves recording material at RAK Studios in London.

The release will follow the band’s latest studio album – ‘Father Of All Motherfuckers’, released in 2020. Talking with NME at the time, the frontman explained why the members opted for a less political approach with the release. “It was just too obvious,” he said. “We live in really dangerous times right now. Everything feels sort of unpredictable. America is really fucked-up and it’s hard to draw any inspiration from it because it just depresses me.”

Armstrong also shared his views on American politics back in June, claiming that he wanted to ‘renounce his US citizenship’, following the Roe v. Wade reversal.

“Fuck America. I’m fucking renouncing my citizenship. I’m fucking coming here,” Armstrong said while onstage at London Stadium. “There’s just too much fucking stupid in the world to go back to that miserable fucking excuse for a country… I’m not kidding. You’re going to get a lot of me in the coming days.”

Back in January, the band released a 25th anniversary reissue of their fifth album ‘Nimrod’, featuring previously unheard songs such as their cover of Elvis Costello’s ‘Alison‘ and the era demo ‘Black Eyeliner‘.

The band’s summer of touring includes a headline show at the pop-punk extravaganza When We Were Young alongside the reunited Blink-182.

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