Green Day Takes Aim at Elon Musk With Bold Lyric Change

Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day performs in this image released on October 6, 2024, at the American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Penske Media via Getty Images)
Michael Buckner / Penske Media via Getty Images

Green Day delivered a pointed message to billionaire Elon Musk while on stage in his home country of South Africa.

When performing their biggest hit “American Idiot,” the band’s singer Billie Joe Armstrong changed the lyrics from “I’m not a part of the redneck agenda” to “I’m not a part of the Elon agenda.”

This isn’t the first time the group has made a political statement while changing song lyrics. At Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin' Eve in 2023, the lyrics were changed to “I’m not a part of the MAGA agenda.” Musk responded on X at the time, attacking the group: “Green Day goes from raging against the machine to milquetoastedly raging for it.”

“Elon Musk actually is the machine,” bassist Mike Dirnt told Rolling Stone at the time. “I can’t take anything else from that. He’s not shy about saying stupid s--- on the internet. Whatever.” The SpaceX founder has yet to comment on Sunday’s dig.

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The band performed the song just one day before Trump’s inauguration with Musk in tow, as he has become a transfixed figure in the new president’s life.

Many have came out against Musk after he made his way into the political arena over the past year, butting himself into American and British politics.

Musk has become a constant presence in Trump’s circle since he poured more than a quarter-billion dollars into the president’s re-election effort.

The tech mogul has also been renting the $2,000-per-night Banyan Cottage at Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago club, the New York Times reported.

And while Trump has praised his new pal in public, he apparently has tired of his constant presence behind the scenes.

“Trump does complain a bit to people about how Musk is around a lot,” New York Times journalist and “Trump whisperer” Maggie Haberman told tech reporter Kara Swisher during an episode of Swisher’s podcast, On.