About Wake Me Up When September Ends

"Wake Me Up When September Ends" is a song by American rock band Green Day, released on August 31, 2005, as the fourth single and eleventh track from the group's seventh studio album, American Idiot (2004). The song was written by frontman Billie Joe Armstrong about the death of his father when he was ten years old. The song became a hit single, peaking at number six on the Billboard Hot 100. It was also a top ten single in the United Kingdom, Belgium, and New Zealand, and was a number one single in the Czech Republic. In the United States, the song became symbolic after Hurricane Katrina, where it was dedicated to victims of the disaster, and also regarded as a dedication to the victims of the September 11 attacks that occurred in 2001. The song was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The song's music video depicts a couple broken apart by the Iraq War, which was intended to convey the song's central theme of loss.

Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For much of the band's career, they have been a trio with a drummer Tré Cool, who replaced John Kiffmeyer in 1990 before the recording of the band's second studio album, Kerplunk (1991). Touring guitarist Jason White became a full-time member in 2012, but returned to his role as a touring member in 2016. Green Day was originally part of the late-'80s/early-'90s punk scene at the DIY 924 Gilman Street club in Berkeley, California. The band's early releases were with the independent record label Lookout! Records. In 1994, their major-label debut Dookie, released through Reprise Records, became a breakout success and eventually shipped over 10 million copies in the U.S. Green Day is credited alongside fellow California punk bands NOFX, Sublime, Bad Religion, the Offspring, and Rancid with popularizing mainstream interest in punk rock in the U.S.