21st Century Breakdown - Promotion and Release

Promotion and Release

Green Day commenced work on the record in January 2006. The writing and recording process spanned three years and four California recording studios and was finished in April 2009. On February 9, 2009, Green Day announced the album title and that the record would be split into three acts: Heroes and Cons, Charlatans and Saints, and Horseshoes and Handgrenades. On March 17, a teaser trailer for 21st Century Breakdown was posted on the band's website. The international release date of May 15 was announced on March 25. In early April 2009, Green Day premiered Know Your Enemy on television; a portion of the song was used as introductory music to the 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Championship game. The band first performed 21st Century Breakdown in full during a string of California club shows in April 2009. At each show, concertgoers were given programs containing all of the album's lyrics. The first single, Know Your Enemy, was released on April 16 2009, and soon after the world premiere of the song's music video occurred on April 24 on the MTV UK website.

21st Century Breakdown was released internationally on May 15, 2009, through Reprise Records. The special edition vinyl version was limited to 3,000 copies and consisted of three 10" records, one for each of the album's "acts", a CD copy of the album, a 60-page art booklet, and a code for the digital download of the full album. The album artwork process was led by Chris Bilheimer and is based on a work from artist Sixten, who confirmed that the couple on the cover were "just friends of a friend at a party in Eskilstuna, Sweden" and explained that a mutual friend snapped a picture of the pair kissing. He added, "I love their passion, and just had to make a stencil out of it to spread the love." The cover art was noted for a marked similarity with that of Blur's 2003 album Think Tank, itself a stencil by artist Banksy. Green Day showcased a collection of similarly themed art, called "The Art of Rock", at an art exhibition in London between October 23 and November 1, 2009.

The record reached number one on the Billboard 200 in the U.S., where it sold 215,000 copies in its first week, which was a shortened three days. The album remained at number one on the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart for three weeks. In Canada, the album debuted at #1 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 30,000 copies in its first week. The album debuted at the top of sales charts in twenty four total countries, including a peak of number one on the European Top 100 Albums. 21st Century Breakdown was only released in a Parental Advisory version containing explicit lyrics and content; Wal-Mart refuses to sell albums with a Parental Advisory sticker and requested that Green Day release a censored edition. The band members responded by stating, "There's nothing dirty about our record... They want artists to censor their records in order to be carried in there. We just said no. We've never done it before. You feel like you're in 1953 or something." The second single, "21 Guns", was released to radio stations on May 25. The band embarked on a world tour in July 2009; the North American leg lasted through September and the European leg ended in November. "East Jesus Nowhere" was released as the album's third single on October 19, 2009.