Twenty years after a few teenage boys with rudimentary music skills teamed up to rock Northern California’s hardcore punk scene, the members of Green Day are now some of the most successful mainstream rock musicians of all time.

From the early 1990s, when singer and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tre Cool released fast and furious albums like Kerplunk, Dookie and Insomniac, to later LPs like Nimrod and Warning, Green Day brought punk to the forefront of alternative rock. The music was technically simple, but resonated with millions of teenagers who were alienated by an increasingly complicated world.

In 2004, Green Day released the political opus American Idiot just in time for the presidential election. Full of melodic fury, American Idiot encouraged a generation of apathetic kids to care about politics. The band’s latest release, 21st Century Breakdown, is somewhat of a sequel to American Idiot, following a young couple as they navigate through contemporary culture. Though punk may be dead, its spirit lives on in Green Day.