What Nobody Told You About Green Day

Right after the death of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain left a massive void in the world of alternative rock, along came Berkeley, California, trio Green Day to bring back punk — both the attitude and the sound. Lead singer and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tré Cool provided a sneering, nose-thumbing charisma. Plus, their songs off the mega-hit album Dookie (to the tune of 10 million copies sold) had the rapid-fire riffs and humor-and-frustration-filled lyrics down to a science. Radio has rarely been without a Green Day hit since the mid-'90s, with rock standards like "Longview," "Basket Case," "When I Come Around," "Hitchin' a Ride," "Holiday," "American Idiot," and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams."

Few experiences in life are more fun and transcending than a tight, well-oiled rock show. Unfortunately, the nature of rock means that doesn't always happen. Let's face it: As anyone who's watched more than one episode of VH1 Behind The Music can tell you, rock stars are temperamental and can become unglued over just about anything.

Singers, songwriters, and bands obviously do everything they can to make the best songs and albums possible. But in order for that music to get to the fans, it usually has to proceed through the proper channels via the artist's record label. If it passes all of the corporate side's numerous requirements and qualifications, it gets pressed into vinyl or shiny disc (or sent to iTunes and Spotify), and then purchased by millions and unconditionally loved forever.

When you hear the words "rock star" you probably don't think about what it really takes to become a musical demigod. Nobody considers the guitar lessons, the early gigging in dingy bars, the cramped band vans, and going over the finer points of a recording contract with managers, lawyers, accountants, and label executives. Nah, "rock star" conveys images of flowing booze, endless drugs, groupies, trashed hotel rooms, and other unbelievably salacious and self-destructive practices. There's a reason why rock stars are synonymous with excess in everything — more than some exaggeration or cliché, a lot of arena rock idols really lived that life, thus creating something to aspire to for the next generation of wannabe rock stars. Their exploits became the stuff of rumor, legend, and coroners' reports — because the danger in partying is the temptation to party too hard. Here are some rock stars who took the rock 'n' roll lifestyle a little far.

If you've ever woken up the morning (or afternoon, or evening) after having gotten way too drunk the night before, you know it can be pretty mortifying. You're unsure if you're remembering anything right, and you kind of hope you're not, because the flashes of memory you are able to drag up from the depths of your throbbing brain are supremely embarrassing. You're hoping against hope that you only dreamed about sticking your butt in the pizza, you're pretty sure you got in a fistfight with a clown, and all the notifications on your phone suggest that you'll probably never be invited to another bar mitzvah again.