Which member of Green Day was born in Frankfurt, Germany?

Tré Cool was the member of Green Day born in Frankfurt, Germany. His birth name is Frank Edwin Wright III, and he was born on December 9, 1972, in what was then West Germany.

Although born in Europe, Cool grew up largely in Willits, California, in the Mendocino Mountains. His father was a helicopter pilot, and the family later settled in Northern California. That California upbringing placed him close to the East Bay punk scene that shaped Green Day.

Cool first played drums with Larry Livermore’s punk band the Lookouts. He began filling in for Green Day’s original drummer, John Kiffmeyer, around 1990 and eventually became the permanent drummer. Kiffmeyer is therefore a common source of confusion: he was Green Day’s first drummer, but not the member born in Frankfurt.

Mike Dirnt and Billie Joe Armstrong were both born in California. Cool’s unusual birthplace is one of the band’s memorable biographical details, even though his musical identity was formed primarily in the American punk community.