Green Day lead singer rips A's owner John Fisher

Emotions are raw in the Bay Area with the Oakland A's playing their final homestand at the Oakland Coliseum, the franchise's home since 1968.

Next season, the A's will relocate to Sacramento's Sutter Health Park, a minor-league ballpark that's being upgraded to MLB standards while a new permanent home is being built in Las Vegas.

News of the team's decision to leave Oakland hit A's fans like a ton of bricks last year, after owner John Fisher abruptly ended the team's involvement in Oakland's Howard Terminal waterfront stadium plans and pursued a Vegas move backed by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.

The sad end to Oakland's decades-long stadium saga with the A's has left fans jaded by professional sports' endless greed. While local politicians have received their share of the blame, Fisher has bore the brunt of the criticism.

The billionaire's most famous critic happens to be the lead singer of an iconic rock band who grew up rooting for the A's. On Friday night, Billie Joe Armstrong, the front man of Green Day, continued to publicly blast Fisher during a hometown stop of "The Saviors Tour" at San Francisco's Oracle Park.

While expressing his East Bay pride, Armstrong derided Fisher for abandoning Oakland for Vegas.

"This is a very special night. Tonight, we are home," Armstrong said amid cheers. "Green Day, we are from the Bay Area. We live the Bay Area. We smell the Bay Area. We are the (oil) refineries. We are that cold bay. We are the mud that lives under there.

"This is us. We are East Bay. East Bay for life. Forever. Green Day, East Bay, forever," Armstrong declared to more cheers. "We don't take no s--- from people like John f---ing Fisher, who sold out the Oakland A's to Las f---ing Vegas. I f---ing hate Las Vegas. It's the worst s---hole in America."

LETS GO @billiejoe!!! pic.twitter.com/LqOQBiTCR6
— Gabriel Hernandez (@gamer_athletics) September 21, 2024

Armstrong's protests don't just come in the form of on-stage rants.

During Green Day's tour across North America, Armstrong has spray-painted a "B" over the A's logo at MLB stadiums where the band has played in a sign of solidarity for Oakland's new independent baseball team, the Oakland Ballers, who play in West Oakland's historic Raimondi Park.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Billie Joe (@billiejoearmstrong)

After Saturday, the A's have only four games left at the Coliseum. The end of an era probably won't stop Armstrong from ripping the owner who's ditching the club's 57-year history in Oakland.

Green Day lead singer rips A's owner John Fisher during Bay Area concert

By Joe Lago | Sep 21, 2024