"Minority" is a song by the American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Green Day Green Day is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Rodeo, California, in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, with drummer Tré Cool joining in 1990. In 1994, their majo ...

. It was released to radio in August 22, 2000 as the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

from their sixth studio album, '' Warning''. The song remained at No. 1 for five weeks in a row on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Modern Rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college and commercial rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. ...

chart in late 2000, making it one of the most successful songs from the band in the 2000s. The song was heard on several US radio stations prior to the scheduled August 22 release date. Around the same time, Green Day was shooting the music video for the song. At the end of August, the single debuted on ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock Airplay chart at number 17. The video first aired on September 14 on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's ''

Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (commonly abbreviated as ''TRL'') is an American television program that premiered on MTV on September 14, 1998. The early version of ''TRL'' featured popular music videos played during its countdown and was also used as ...

''. A retail single was released the next day. In the UK, the single first entered the Official Charts at number 18 at the end of September, and stayed on the chart for three weeks. At the end of October, a four-track maxi single was released on vinyl through

Adeline Records Adeline Records was an American record label that was formed in Oakland, California in late 1997 and closed in August 2017. History In 1997, Adeline Records was founded by Billie Joe Armstrong, lead singer of Green Day, Screw 32's Doug Sangal ...

Track listing

#"Minority" (Radio version) - 2:51 #"Brat" (Live from Tokyo) – 1:42 #"86" (Live from Prague) – 2:59

AU single

#"Minority" (Album version) – 2:49 #"Brat" (Live from Tokyo) – 1:42 #"86" (Live from Prague) – 2:59 #"Jackass" (Album version) – 2:47

7"

Side A #"Minority" - 2:49 #"Brat" (Live from Tokyo) – 1:42 Side B #"Jackass" #"86" (Live from Prague) – 2:59

7" vinyl box set

#"Minority" – 2:49 #" Warning" – 3:42 #"Hold On" – 2:56 #"Outsider" – 2:17

Promo single

#"Minority" (radio edit) - 2:51 #"Minority" (album version) – 2:49

Music video

The music video was released in September 2000 and directed by

Evan Bernard Evan Bernard is an American director of commercials and music videos who has directed videos for artists such as The Chicks, Moby, the Beastie Boys, Green Day, Lit, Cibo Matto and many others. Life and career After studying advertising design ...

(who also directed the " Nice Guys Finish Last" video). It shows the band on a

parade float A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually s ...

, playing their instruments in the middle of

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

(specifically Broadway) followed by a very reduced number of people. There are also computer-generated balloons made to look like each individual member. In the end, they destroy the float (this is typical of a Green Day music video: destruction of instruments, props and buildings can also be seen in a number of their other videos, including " Walking Contradiction", " Basket Case", " Longview" and " Hitchin' a Ride"). The video was released uncut on '' International Supervideos!''. It was filmed in downtown San Diego. When he first sings the phrase "Fuck 'em all," Billie Joe can be seen giving the

middle finger The middle finger, long finger, second finger, third finger, toll finger or tall man is the third digit of the human hand, typically located between the index finger and the ring finger. It is typically the longest digit. In anatomy, it is al ...

to the buildings to both the left and right. A rare behind the scenes video is on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

uploaded by user Thibaut78240 but the audio cuts out through almost the entire video.

Other versions

Live versions have been included on '' Tune In, Tokyo…'', '' Bullet in a Bible'', '' BBC Sessions'', and the 20th anniversary edition of ''American Idiot''.

Personnel

Billie Joe Armstrong Billie Joe Armstrong (born February 17, 1972) is an American musician and actor. He is best known for being the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Green Day, which he co-founded with Mike Dirnt in 1987. He is als ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

Mike Dirnt Michael Ryan Pritchard (born May 4, 1972), better known by his stage name Mike Dirnt, is an American rock musician who is the co-founder, bassist, backing vocalist, and occasional lead vocalist of Green Day. He has also played in several other ...

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

* Tre Cool -

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

Charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2000 singles Green Day songs Folk punk songs Reprise Records singles 2000 songs