Green Day, by no means shy to make their politics identified, took a jab at Elon Musk throughout their debut efficiency in Musk’s dwelling nation of South Africa the night time earlier than Donald Trump’s inauguration.
While performing their iconic 2004 chart topper American Idiot in Johannesburg’s FNB Stadium, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong modified up the lyric, “I’m not a part of the redneck agenda” to “I’m not a part of the Elon agenda,” taking intention on the billionaire, who has fashioned shut ties with Trump in latest months and is tapped to steer the president’s new “Department of Government Efficiency.”
Concert footage posted to X, the social media platform owned by Musk, has taken off, and the web has rather a lot to say.
“Can’t wait for Elon to throw a hissy fit so I can laugh,” wrote one individual.
“I wish artists would stick to what they do best, politics is obviously not what they do best,” one other individual countered.

Get breaking National information
For information impacting Canada and around the globe, join breaking information alerts delivered on to you after they occur.
The timing of the lyric change has been famous by many, too — someday later, Musk confronted a flurry of backlash after he made a controversial gesture with one arm whereas talking at Trump’s inauguration, which many individuals in comparison with a Nazi salute.
This isn’t the primary time Green Day has modified their lyrics to take a swipe at those that help Trump.
On New Year’s Eve in 2023, whereas performing American Idiot throughout New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, Armstrong modified the lyrics and sang “I’m not a part of the MAGA agenda,” referencing Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
At the time, Musk fired again, writing on X, “Green Day goes from raging against the machine to milquetoastedly raging for it.”
He, nevertheless, has not responded to the newest jab.
According to Billboard, the band additionally used an look on stage on the 2016 American Music Awards to chant “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA.”
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.