Michael Ryan Pritchard, commonly known as Mike Dirnt, is the bassist of the punk-rock band Green Day.

Born May 4, 1972, Mike Dirnt lived in a broken home, and even though he excelled at school, his family’s dynamic dragged him down; his mother left him and his dad to live in Rodeo, California and in 1982 he moved in to join her.

At school, he became friends with Billie Joe Armstrong as they both played guitar and formed a band called Sweet Children where he was the secondary guitarist. In 1987, Dirnt’s family had to leave Rodeo; unwilling to leave Sweet Children behind, he convinced the Armstrongs to let him live in their garage. Eventually, bass player Sean Hughes left Sweet Children, leaving Dirnt to play bass.

Since that day on, even with the band’s name change from Sweet Children to Green Day, he has maintained a close relationship with Billie Joe and kept his role as the bassist for the band.

Besides music, Mike and Billie Joe run a coffee company called Oakland Coffee Works that sells organic coffee.

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