Green Day cancels tour, moves up album release

Green Day has canceled the first legs of its tour, including a Jan. 16 stop at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, to give singer Billie Joe Armstrong more time to recover from unspecified substance abuse issues in rehab.

However, the cancellation of the tour has led the band to move up the release of the final part of its album trilogy “Tre!” to Dec. 11, from Jan. 15. The second installment “Dos!” is still set for a Nov. 13 release.

“We feel bad we have to delay our tour, so to make up for it we want to give our fans the music earlier than we had planned,” drummer Tré Cool said in a statement.  “If we couldn't be there to play it for you live, the least we could do was give you the next best thing.”

Armstrong went into rehab in September after an onstage rant at the iHeartRadio Festival in Las Vegas, where he railed about time constraints and then smashed instruments. The band has canceled a series of club dates through the end of the year and postponed the arena tour that was set to start in Wisconsin on Jan. 7.

The arena dates, including the Brooklyn date, are expected to be rescheduled and tickets for the original show will be honored at the later date.

Armstrong's bandmates have said the strain of recording and promoting the trilogy, which started with the excellent “Uno!” album in September, may have contributed to Armstrong's issues.

“Obviously the timing for this isn't ideal, but Billie Joe's well-being is our main concern,” bassist  Mike Dirnt said in a statement.  “We are happy to say that Billie Joe is doing well, and we want to thank you all for the outpouring of support and well wishes that we have received, and we can't wait to see you all again soon.”

SEE PHOTOSRock stars then and now

Photo: Green Day member are, from left,  Tre Cool, Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt. (Sept. 6, 2012)