Billie Joe Armstrong Sings ‘Wake Me Up When September Ends’ For ‘One World’ Concert

Green Day’s “Wake Me Up When September Ends” received a touching new context on Saturday night (Apr. 18), when frontman Billie Joe Armstrong performed the song for the One World: Together At Home telecast.

After playing Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” for iHeartMedia’s recent pandemic benefit special, Armstrong played another American Idiot standout for One World. As he strummed the single, footage of emptied cities flashed onscreen, a silent reminder of how much the world has changed in such a short time — and how everyone is anxious to return to normalcy.

“Wake Me Up When September Ends” provided one of the more somber moments of the One World: Together At Home telecast, which benefits the World Health Organization and aired crossed multiple networks. The two-hour special was preceded by a six-hour livestream of additional performances on Saturday and was headlined by artists such as the Rolling Stones, Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John.