Armstrong: 'New Green Day LP made me sick'

Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong has admitted that recording the band's new album made him physically sick.

Speaking to The Sun, the singer revealed that the group wore themselves out making 21st Century Breakdown because they felt under pressure to live up to the fans' high expectations.

"This is the album that could have killed us. We had set the bar so high with American Idiot. We all became sick as dogs. I was close to being hospitalised but they caught me in time. I had the boogie woogie flu," he explained.

He added: "I got a BlackBerry and started to write down every idea for a lyric on it. I had many a sleepless night where I’d get something and have to get up and tap it into my BlackBerry."

21st Century Breakdown is released on May 15. The first single, 'Know Your Enemy', is out on Monday.