Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong Issues Warning to ICE Agents During Pre-Super Bowl Performance

This past Friday (Feb. 6), Green Day performed at an invite-only (Spotify-sponsored) pre-Super Bowl party held at San Francisco’s Pier 29 (ahead of their appearance at tonight’s Super Bowl LX). In the midst of playing a lengthy set of classic tracks, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong gave a powerful warning to ICE agents about what’s going to happen to them “when this is over.”

What Was Billie Joe Armstrong’s Warning?

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Armstrong’s warning came “midway through” the band’s set.

“And this goes out to all the ICE agents out wherever you are. Quit your shitty ass job. Quit that shitty job you have,” Armstrong began while leaning toward the crowd and speaking slowly for emphasis.

The crowd cheered as he continued: “Because when this is over – and it will be over at some point in time – Kristi Noem, Stephen Miller, JD Vance, Donald Trump, they’re gonna drop you like a bad fucking habit. Come on this side of the line.”

All the while, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tre Cool kept a steady rhythm going, and after Armstrong was finished his speech, he yelled, “Ladies and gentlemen, Tre Cool!”

As San Francisco Chronicle also points out: “The remarks about President Trump, his vice president and homeland security team fit squarely within the Oakland act’s tradition of mixing its anthems with political provocation, and landed before a VIP audience that included longtime Trump adversary California Gov. Gavin Newsom.”

You can see Armstrong's warning below:

Expectedly, reactions to what Armstrong said have been both supportive and dismissive.

For example, one person on Instagram wrote: “I love that they don’t care where they are - corporate show, radio awards show, Super Bowl, or their own headliner. The message is the same, the beliefs are steadfast and so important. Green Day forever and ever.”

In contrast, someone on X joked: “'We are out of touch aged out punk band and we are against the current thing!'”

Of course, Trump himself told the New York Post on Jan. 24 that he’s not a fan of Green Day (or Bad Bunny, who’ll be performing at tonight’s Super Bowl halftime show): “I’m anti-them. I think it’s a terrible choice. All it does is sow hatred. Terrible."

What Else Happened During Green Day’s Performance?

Concertgoers should’ve been prepared for such a bold move given not only the singer’s history of making politically charged statements during concerts (and elsewhere), but also because they kicked off the night by changing the lyrics to two of their biggest songs.

As he’s done many times before, Armstrong revised the second verse of opener “American Idiot,” swapping original lyric “I’m not a part of a redneck agenda” to “I’m not part of a MAGA agenda.” Similarly, follow-up “Holiday” saw him declare, “The representative of Epstein's Island now has the floor” instead of “The representative from California has the floor.”

Further into the night – and per Parade – Armstrong changed a line in “Jesus of Suburbia” from “We are the kids of war and peace / From Anaheim to the Middle East” to “We are the kids of war and peace from / Minnesota to the Middle East.” Obviously, this was in relation to what’s been happening in Minnesota over the last month.

You can see clips of the “American Idiot” and “Holiday” changes – as well as the crowd’s enthusiastic responses – below:

Other than that, though, it was a fairly standard Green Day show, with the trio’s typical liveliness bolstering performances of other hits (including “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” “Basket Case” and “When I Come Around”) and somewhat deeper cuts (including “One Eyed Bastard,” “Bobby Sox” and “Minority”) [via setlist.fm].

You can see their full performance of “American Idiot” below:

Green Day, “American Idiot” (Feb. 6, 2026)

Other Recent Examples of Rockers Being Political

Green Day are far from the only artist to address and react to what’s been happening in the United States lately.

For instance, musicians such as Doc Coyle, Neal Schon, Garrett Russell, Phil Labonte and Tom Morello reacted to the Jan. 24 murder of Alex Pretti by United States Border Patrol during on-going ICE protests in Minneapolis.

Days later (on Jan. 30), Morello held his “A Concert of Solidarity & Resistance to Defend Minnesota!” benefit concert for the families of ICE-related shooting victims.

In addition to an appearance from Rise Against, it saw rock icon Bruce Springsteen stop by to cover John Lennon’s “Power to the People,” sing his own “The Ghost of Tom Joad” and mark the live debut of his newest song, “Streets of Minneapolis” (which Springsteen released two days earlier in response to the aforementioned situation). Unsurprisingly, the song was not positively received by the White House.

Plus, both bassist Francis Xayana and guitarist Patty Somoulay recently quit Minnesota metalcore group Reflections due to singer Jake Wolf’s support of ICE. Around the same time, former Turnstiles guitarist Brady Ebert chastised the band for sharing an “abolish ICE” post on social media. (Last week, Ebert was fired from new band The S.E.T. over various comments he’s made about Turnstiles, including their anti-ICE statement.)

Other Green Day + Super Bowl News

Green Day are set to play the pre-game ceremony of tonight’s Super Bowl LX, during which – per Variety – they’ll “usher generations of Super Bowl MVPs onto the field.”

The game is being held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. and will start at 3:30PM PST / 6:30PM EST. Green Day’s set is scheduled for half an hour before it begins, and you can watch it live on NBC, Peacock, NFL+, Telemundo and Universo.

How do you feel about what Armstrong said? Are you planning to watch this year’s Super Bowl? Let us know!