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Jesse Malin is a singer, guitarist, and songwriter whose music reflects the swagger and heart of his hometown, New York City. As part of D Generation, Malin kept the spirit of '70s glam and punk alive during the height of grunge. Their valiant struggle earned D Generation a cult following and positive press, but the group had difficulty breaking outside of their native New York. Malin did better as a solo artist, realigning himself with the rawer side of Americana in the 2000s, then working as a rock & roll troubadour, bashing out albums and earnest concerts at a steady pace. Malin reinvented himself as a solo artist with 2003's The Fine Art of Self Destruction, 2010's Love It to Life wed world-weary lyrics to lean rock & roll melodies, and 2021's Sad and Beautiful World, his first double album, gave him the room to explore both sides of his muse. After a medical crisis compromised his ability to walk and perform, Malin's friends and fans showed their support with a tribute album, Silver Patron Saints: The Songs of Jesse Malin, while the artist issued a live album and film, 2024's Chasing the Light.

Born in Queens on January 26, 1967, Malin began playing guitar, joining the hardcore punk band Heart Attack as a vocalist and guitarist when he was 12 years old. Over the next four years, Heart Attack spit out a single and a pair of EPs, and Malin formed a lasting bond with Danny Sage. The duo formed D Generation in 1991, reviving the sound of '70s sleaze and punk with a special emphasis on the New York Dolls. Over the course of the '90s, D Generation released three albums, with their major label pushing the band toward a success that never quite materialized.

Following D Generation's breakup, Malin threw himself into writing songs in the vein of maverick singer/songwriters, looking at the likes of Neil Young and Tom Waits for inspiration. Ryan Adams, who'd recently left his group Whiskeytown and was gaining fame as a singer/songwriter himself, headed into the studio with Malin to produce The Fine Art of Self Destruction, Malin's solo debut. Appearing in the U.K. in October 2002, the record received some buzz, helping its lead single, "Queen of the Underworld," chart; the LP would later receive a nomination for the Shortlist Music Prize. It received stateside release from Artemis Records in January 2003, and Malin supported the record with tours on both sides of the Atlantic. He also began popping up on tribute albums that raised his profile, including contributing a version of "Hungry Heart" to the benefit album Light of Day: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen. During this busy 2003, Malin and Adams also indulged in a hardcore punk side project called the Finger, recording the album We Are Fuck You.

The Heat, Malin's second album, appeared in June 2004. It didn't make many waves, so he shook things up in 2006, heading to Los Angeles to record his third album, Glitter in the Gutter. Released on Adeline Records, a label run by Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong, the album featured cameos from Bruce Springsteen and Jakob Dylan.

In 2008, Malin released two albums: Mercury Retrograde, which was recorded with his backing band the Heat, and On Your Sleeve, a collection of covers. The next year, Malin formed the band St. Mark's Social, who released Love It to Life on Side One Dummy in 2010. A D Generation reunion followed in 2011, with the group playing live shows while Malin simultaneously played some solo shows, including a few gigs opening for Guns N' Roses. D Generation suggested they would put out new material, but Malin instead kept releasing solo albums. New York Before the War appeared in March 2015, with the gritty Outsiders arriving that November.

Malin collaborated with his longtime friend Lucinda Williams on Sunset Kids, a 2019 album featuring Williams' production in addition to a couple of her songs. 2021's Sad and Beautiful World was Malin's first double album, with the first half ("Roots Rock") focusing on the singer/songwriter side of his musical personality, and the second part ("Radicals") devoted to revved-up rock & roll. In May 2023, Malin suffered a spinal stroke, a rare medical condition that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Malin struggled hard to regain use of his legs, and eventually traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina for treatment at a facility that offered stem cell treatments and other alternative means of therapy. To help pay his extensive medical bills and show their support, a number of his friends and admirers recorded a tribute album, Silver Patron Saints: The Songs of Jesse Malin; the set included tracks from Bruce Springsteen, Lucinda Williams, Elvis Costello, Billie Joe Armstrong, Dinosaur Jr, Tom Morello, the late Wayne Kramer, and many more. As he continued to recover, Malin coordinated the release of Chasing the Light, a live album with an accompanying concert film that documented a pair of shows in New York City in January 2022. Released on LP and CD by Wicked Cool Records with an accompanying Blu-Ray disc of the film, Chasing the Light included guest appearances from Eugene Hütz of Gogol Bordello and former Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson.

In September 2024, Malin made an appearance on the TV series CBS Saturday Morning, where he performed for an audience for the first time since his stroke, debuting a new song, "Argentina," as well as singing "Meet Me at the End of the World" and "State of the Art." To coincide with the physical release of Silver Patron Saints, Malin staged a pair of concerts at New York's Beacon Theater on December 1 and 2, 2024. While he needed a walker to make his way on-stage and performed sitting down, he delivered a strong and heartfelt show with guest appearances from friends and fans Elvis Costello, Lucinda Williams, Jakob Dylan, Alejando Escovedo, J Mascis, and many more. A portion of the proceeds from the concerts was donated to the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, a nonprofit group providing financial support to artists in need, which had been assisting Malin in his recovery.~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Mark Deming

Billie Joe Armstrong (guitar, vocals) received slings and arrows from obstinate punk fans when his band Green Day leapt from the underground and onto MTV in 1994.

Born on February 17, 1972, in Berkeley, California, Armstrong is the youngest of six children; his father died from lung cancer when he was only ten. He formed Sweet Children in 1987 with bassist Mike Dirnt. The group's name became Green Day in 1989, and Al Sobrante (drums) joined the band, eventually replaced by Tre Cool. Green Day's first two albums, 39/Smooth and Kerplunk!, solidified their place in the Southern California punk scene of the early '90s. However, when 1994's Dookie was released on a major label and sold more than eight million copies, Green Day were accused of selling out. Armstrong married his girlfriend Adrienne Nesser in June 1994; nearly a year later, their first child, Joseph Marciano, was born. With each Green Day album, Armstrong continued to ignore the criticisms of the group's early fans as the band proceeded to strengthen their status within the mainstream, culminating in 2004's American Idiot, a rock opera that became a surprise international success, a multi-platinum Grammy winner, and the best-reviewed album of the band's career. Outside of Green Day, Armstrong teamed with jazz singer and pianist Norah Jones in a project to re-create the classic 1958 Everly Brothers album Songs Our Daddy Taught Us. Recorded in nine days with bassist Tim Luntzel and drummer Dan Rieser, Foreverly was released in 2013.

Armstrong busied himself with Green Day during the back half of the 2010s, releasing Revolution Radio in 2016 and Father of All… in 2020. Once the band's touring plans for 2020 were scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Armstrong began an online covers project called No Fun Mondays where he debuted a new tune at the beginning of each week. The covers were assembled as the No Fun Mondays album in November 2020. ~ Michael Sutton