Mother who lost son at Riot Fest finds him on stage with Green Day
The mother who lost her son at Riot Fest 2025 has thanked Green Day for inviting him on stage and helping her to find him.
The trio headlined the 20th anniversary edition of the three-day punk rock festival, which took place at Douglass Park in Chicago, Illinois, last week.
Three songs into the set, Billie Joe Armstrong and co. played 2009’s ‘Know Your Enemy’ from their eighth studio album ’21st Century Breakdown’.
However, the frontman explained midway through the track (via Loudwire): “I have a really bad chest cold right now. I do. I’m a little bit sick right in here. So I need a volunteer. Who knows the lyrics to this song? Who knows it?”
Armstrong then invited a young fan called Argyle to the stage. He was attending Riot Fest with his mother on his 16th birthday, and was holding up a sign reading: “Hi! It’s my 16th birthday! I’m autistic and Green Day is my special interest. Can I come on stage and sing ‘Know Your Enemy?’”
Argyle had been waiting at the front of the stage all day. He got separated from his mum when she went to the toilet, and she was unable to locate her son upon her return. She was later surprised to see Argyle up on stage with Green Day.
In a comment on Armstrong’s Instagram page, she wrote: “I am Argyle’s mom. I was in panic mode all day because we got separated when I went to the bathroom and couldn’t get back to him. He parked by the stage around noon and didn’t leave all day.
“THANK YOU for making my amazing kid’s dream come true and for easing my anxiety. As soon as I saw him on stage I screamed ‘OMG THAT’S MY KID!!!!!’ What an amazing night! I am a new fan forever.”
Captioning the screenshot, Armstrong said: ‘Look ma!! It’s Argyle!’ – a nod to Green Day’s 2023 track ‘Look Ma, No Brains’.
Armstrong also shared a series of images from the performance, including a shot of Argyle wearing a Green Day T-shirt. “OH MY FREAKING GOD!!! THAT’S ME! IM ARGYLE!!!!” the fan commented.
On his own page, Argyle said he was “so insanely grateful” to have been invited on stage by the band. He also shared an image of his handwritten sign and a clip of him performing, writing: “The poster vs the result.”
Check out the posts and videos of the moment here:
Elsewhere at Riot Fest 2025, Jack White joined IDLES for a joint performance of ‘Never Fight A Man With A Perm’, while Blink-182 teamed up with Descendents’ Stephen Egerton and reunited with Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba.
Meanwhile, members of the MAGA movement have been criticising GWAR for their antics during their slot at the festival.
In other news, Green Day recently played ‘Haushinka’ live for the first time in nearly three decades on another stop of their ‘Saviors’ tour.
The group have also shared the first trailer for their upcoming road trip comedy film New Years Rev.
In a four-star review of Green Day’s latest album, NME wrote: “Not only does ‘Saviors’ spiritually bridge the gap between [‘Dookie’ and ‘American Idiot’], but it uses the palette of the best of the band to tell us something else. Look to the artwork: ‘Dookie’ was a cheeky carpet-bombing of shit, ‘American Idiot’ was a hand grenade, ‘Saviors’ is an act of defiance met with a shrug; a band saying, ‘We’re still here and we’re still fucked’.”
The post Mother who lost son at Riot Fest finds him on stage with Green Day appeared first on NME.
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