Green Day Defend Lars Ulrich’s Drumming on ‘Howard Stern Show’

During their appearance on The Howard Stern Show to promote their new album Saviors, Green Day talked about some of the world’s best drummers and are the latest to come to the defense of Metallica‘s Lars Ulrich.

Tré Cool rattles off a handful of names, the first being one that is likely a big surprise to most music fans — The Beatles‘ Ringo Starr. He’s one of the most criticized drummers to have ever been in a popular band, so for Cool to mention him immediately plays well into Billie Joe Armstrong‘s praise for Ulrich a bit later.

Keith Moon (The Who), John Bonham (Led Zeppelin), Meg White (The White Stripes) and Buddy Rich are all shouted out, and Stern throws Cream‘s Ginger Baker into the mix.

“He played what’s supposed to be played in a song,” Cool says of Starr, “Drummers forget they’re playing a song sometimes.”

Stern then highlights Ulrich’s ability to add his own sense of stage presence that most drummers are not able to manage, prompting Armstrong’s response.

Green Day on The Howard Stern Show

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“Lars has a really unorthodox way of playing. I think he’s a really creative drummer,” the Green Day frontman acknowledges.

“I think there’s like, as far as the metal drummers of his genre — even up until now people that were influenced by Metallica, I think there is something very studious about the way other people play,” he continues, “But I think the way that him and James Hetfield play together is so just in lock step. His drum fills are completely unique to the way Lars plays. I really dig the way Lars [plays], he’s a great drummer.”

“His energy is infectious. He’s like a heavy metal muppet,” Cool adds.

Green Day in 2024

Green Day’s 14th album, Saviors, is out today.

They’ll embark on a North American stadium tour this summer, performing both Dookie and American Idiot in their entirety.

See all of those dates here.