Three-time Grammy Award-winning Reprise Records rock band Green Day will help usher in 2010 on "NBC's New Year's Eve with Carson Daly." The band's eighth studio album, 21st Century Breakdown, was released on May 15, 2009 and has reached #1 in fourteen different countries, hitting Gold or Platinum in each.
The two-hour special will air live on Thursday, December 31, beginning in primetime from 10-11 p.m. (ET), and continuing at 11:30 PM (ET) with the countdown to 2010 and the first performances of the New Year. "NBC's New Year's Eve with Carson Daly" will broadcast in high definition from the middle of the world's most famous New Year's Eve destination, Times Square in New York City. Green Day's commitment continues the show's remarkable tradition of great performances by the music industry's most popular artists.
"We have built a great tradition of having the best and biggest music acts on our New Year's Eve live broadcast; having Green Day this year only solidifies that. I'm beyond excited," said Daly. "Green Day will make this year's show a TV event to remember on NBC."
One day before the first performance of Green Day's American Idiot, Berkeley Repertory Theatre announced that it will extend the show due to record-breaking sales and unprecedented demand for seats. Originally scheduled to close on October 11, this hotly anticipated world premiere has been extended and plays through Sunday, November 15.
American Idiot began preview performances September 4., kicking off Berkeley Rep's 2009/10 season in the state-of-the-art Roda Theatre. The production officially opened on September 16. Green Day won two Grammys - Best Rock Album and Record of the Year - for its multi-platinum American Idiot, which sold more than 12 million copies worldwide. Now the band brings that explosive album to the stage with the director of Spring Awakening, which nabbed eight Tony Awards in 2007. American Idiot follows working-class characters from the suburbs to the city to the Middle East, as they seek redemption in a world filled with frustration - an exhilarating journey borne along by Green Day's electrifying songs.
The show features the music of Green Day - vocalist/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tré Cool - along with Armstrong's lyrics. It is being staged by Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer, who collaborated with Armstrong on the story. Berkeley Rep presents American Idiot in association with Tom Hulce and Ira Pittelman, the lead producers of Spring Awakening.
In 2008, 8.6 million viewers tuned in to watch "NBC's New Year's Eve With Carson Daly." This special, which premiered in 2004, delivered its fourth straight year of gains scoring its biggest ratings results to date.
"NBC's New Year's Eve with Carson Daly" is executive-produced by Daly ("Last Call with Carson Daly") and David Friedman ("Last Call with Carson Daly") through Universal Media Studios. Guy Oseary ("Last Call with Carson Daly") is co-executive producer.
