Green Day tweaks ‘American Idiot’ lyrics to take a jab at Elon Musk – National | Globalnews.ca

Green Day, never shy to make their politics known, took a jab at Elon Musk during their debut performance in Musk’s home country of South Africa the night before Donald Trump’s inauguration.

While performing their iconic 2004 chart topper American Idiot in Johannesburg’s FNB Stadium, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong changed up the lyric, “I’m not a part of the redneck agenda” to “I’m not a part of the Elon agenda,” taking aim at the billionaire, who has formed close ties with Trump in recent months and is tapped to lead the president’s new “Department of Government Efficiency.”

Concert footage posted to X, the social media platform owned by Musk, has taken off, and the internet has a lot to say.

“Can’t wait for Elon to throw a hissy fit so I can laugh,” wrote one person.

“I wish artists would stick to what they do best, politics is obviously not what they do best,” another person countered.

The timing of the lyric change has been noted by many, too — one day later, Musk faced a flurry of backlash after he made a controversial gesture with one arm while speaking at Trump’s inauguration, which many people compared to a Nazi salute.

This isn’t the first time Green Day has changed their lyrics to take a swipe at those who support Trump.

On New Year’s Eve in 2023, while performing American Idiot during New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, Armstrong changed the lyrics and sang “I’m not a part of the MAGA agenda,” referencing Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.

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At the time, Musk fired back, writing on X, “Green Day goes from raging against the machine to milquetoastedly raging for it.”

He, however, has not responded to the latest jab.

According to Billboard, the band also used an appearance on stage at the 2016 American Music Awards to chant “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA.”

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