• Tre Cool: • |
Frank Edwin Wright III was actually born in Frankfurt, Germany to a Vietnam veteran father (a helicopter pilot during that war). The family later moved to the U.S. to live in the Mendocino mountains, Laytonville and Willits, California, where Tre's father built houses, a profession that would prove to be very useful for his son's later career as senior Wright also constructed Lawrence Livermore's place. Larry was at the time a lively punk rock fan with his own band under the name of the Lookouts and an indie label Lookout! Records. Having a hard time learning how to play the violin since the second grade, young Tre decided to switch to drums as a drummer was what Livermore's band lacked back then. It was Larry who gave the 12-year-old Frank his famous nickname 'Tre Cool' ('tre' being the phonetic equivalent of 'very' in French). Pretty sure that he won't be taking on any other career, Tre moved from his small hometown to Berkeley, CA, famous for its community of punk rockers at 924 Gilman Street. After Green Day's release of "1039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours"LP(1990) and first tour around the United States, John Kiffmeyer (Al Sobrante, Green Day's first drummer) decided to pursue college and left the band, only to be soon replaced by Tre, who had already been a veteran of the local scene. Our beloved, insane drummer debuted on the second album by Green Day, "Kerpunk!", released on Lookout! in 1991. Tre dropped out of high school in his sophmore year. He passed an equivalency test and earned a GED, beginning to take classes at a nearby community college. He had to abandon that too, however, when the demands of Green Day's touring became more intense. Tre's father provided the band with the infamous bookmobile and served as the driver on three tours.
By the time "Insomniac" was released (its cover "God Told Me To Skin You Alive" provided by Winston Smith, Cool's acquaintance since the Lookouts), Tre has already been a father to Ramona Isabel (born January 1995, her first name being an obvious reference to Cool's idol, Joey Ramone of the legendary punk rock band the Ramones), his first child from relationship with Lisea Lyons, a photographer, who he married in March 1995 and divorced about a year later when Lisea moved to New York with Ramona, leaving Tre broken-hearted from longing for his daughter. Tre married his second wife Claudia in May of 2000. Claudia is a photographer as well, suggesting that Mr Cool has a thing for that particular profession. Perhaps not anymore... From that relationship Tre has a son Frankito (which means "Little Frank" in Spanish). Tre and Claudia divorced in 2003, but still live together in order to raise their son, residing in Oakland, CA.
To comprehend the craziness of this man's mind is a challenge. From the most unexpected lyrics ever ("Dominated Love Slave", "All by Myself", "Rock and Roll Girlfriend", "DUI" or "Like a Rat does Cheese") to milking a dog for coffee, numerously putting his drumset (and occasionally himself) on fire, making up a sexual position by the name of 'Bullwinkle' and dressing as a priest at a gig, this man is considered the most entertaining of all the bands members. Billie Joe's children, having Tre as their godfather, should never get bored.
He might be the youngest one in the band as well as the shortest, surely the most random. But for climbing the Universal Studios ball in Orlando, FL and having his left nipple pierced, I'd consider him ballsy. Even with only one testicle (while the other one was reportedly lost in a unicycle accident). And only the love for golf doesn't seem to fit his wild, exuberant nature.
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