Back in 1993, Richie Bucher was tasked with creating the album cover for Green Day’s major label debut album Dookie which was set to release the following year. We all know what happened next, both the album and the album cover Bucher created for it would become iconic.
With the 30th anniversary of the album a few months away, Bucher took to his Instagram account to share not only the draft of the artwork he presented to the band for approval but also the story behind how he got the gig in the first place and what it meant to him.
As we have previously confirmed, Green Day’s new album is due in early 2024, so Bucher saying he’s working on a drawing that would be a current-day reference to the world depicted on the Dookie cover and that we’ll be able to see it “early next year” with a winking face emoji, seems to be a hint that he may, in fact, be working on the Album 14 cover artwork. [Edit: it’s now confirmed he is not working on the Green Day cover and was hinting at something else]
Fwiw, I’m working on another drawing now. A reference to that world from the 21st century. We’ll see what happens, but you can keep your eyes peeled for that to show up early next year, if you’re interested… 😉
Richie Bucher
There’s been a bit of a nostalgic feel to the recording of the new album with Rob Cavallo (producer) and Chris Lorde-Alge (mixing) back in the fold for the first time since the Uno/Dos/Tre sessions so potentially having Bucher on board to provide the artwork provides another layer of anticipation for fans, there’s a real feel that something special is coming with this new record.
While all we can currently do is speculate, we shouldn’t be too far off from the first single which could drop as early as October. As always keep checking back here for the latest news on the album as we continue to dig for details in the meantime.