We felt like we had a home” in Pinole, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong told a crowd of hundreds in front of the local 7-Eleven.

The City of Pinole presented legendary punk rock band Green Day with the Key to the City on Sunday, Sept. 22. The ceremony attended by fans and city officials occurred […]

They stood under a beating sun in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven on a typically quiet stretch of strip-mall suburbia. It was the unexpected last stop on Green Day’s whirlwind weekend in the Bay Area, which started off with a sold-out show at San Francisco’s Oracle Park on Friday night.

While lead vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong is originally from nearby Rodeo, California, Pinole is where much of Green Day’s music was shaped. Bassist Mike Dirnt, who was also grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and drummer Tre Cool joined Armstrong at the gathering.

The punk rock band Green Day returned home to the East Bay on Sunday to a roaring crowd of die-hard fans, not at a concert venue, but this time at a 7-Eleven in Pinole with a storied past.

Hundreds of fans lined up outside a 7-Eleven to cheer on Green Day as the band was presented with Pinole's key to the city, a commemorative plaque and mural honoring their impact.