Green Day

In the same way Nirvana’s Nevermind comprehensively flipped the script in 1991, Green Day’s third album, Dookie, destroyed the alt-rock competition just three years later, thrilling both the band’s burgeoning army of supporters and discerning rock fans of all persuasions as it moved over 20 million copies worldwide on release in 1994.

Unlike the tragically ill-fated Kurt Cobain, however, the Californian punk-pop trio flourished under the spotlight. Having initially secured their fanbase with consistently strong late-90s releases such as Insomniac and Nimrod, Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool ripped up rock’s rulebook by going supernova for a second time with arguably their best album of all, 2004’s hard-hitting, Billboard chart-topping American Idiot.

The band could have coasted from thereon in, yet, to their credit, Green Day have retained their hunger. They’ve repeatedly pushed themselves with ambitious records such as 2009’s Quadrophenia-esque rock opera, 21st Century Breakdown, along with further outspoken titles, among them 2016’s Revolution Radio and the following year’s Father Of All Motherfuckers, while their recent Hella Mega tour, with Weezer and Fall Out Boy, proves their stadium-filling potential remains as potent as ever.