Green Day's Billie Joe recently spoke to Rolling Stone magazine about a number of topics in a lengthy new interview piece. Billie Joe commented on the apparent contradiction of being a middle–aged punk:
I don't want to be twenty–one again. Screw that.[…] My whole life right there [was] screaming kids, punks telling me to fuck off, my wife getting pissed. There's nothing wrong with being twenty–one. It's the lessons you learn. At thirty, you think, "Why did I worry so much about this shit?"
He also comments on the punk cliche, noting:
The punk bands I liked were the ones who didn't fall into clichés -- the Clash, the Ramones. The Ramones wrote beautiful love songs.
He also seems to be one of the few major figures showing Britney Spears any mercy after her much reviled performance at the music awards saying:
People want blood. They want to see other people thrown to the lions. Do audiences want rock stars? I can't tell. You have information coming at you from so many areas -- YouTube, the Internet, tabloids. Watching Britney Spears the other night [on the MTV Video Music Awards] was like watching a public execution.
You can check out the rest of the interview here.