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The Alabama Crimson Tide boast one of the most accomplished programs in college football. The school is also one of the sport’s most hated.
Great success often puts a target on a team’s back. Fans briefly put those feelings aside to celebrate the Million Dollar Band.
The group has been a mainstay at Alabama sporting events for more than a century. It’s labeled as “one of the most respected university marching bands in the country.”
It is the largest student organization on campus in Tuscaloosa and won a collegiate marching band “National Championship” in 2003 after being honored with the Sudler Award.
The Alabama band has a huge following.
The Million Dollar Band Percussion has nearly 30,000 followers on TikTok. They boast another 14.4K on Instagram.
They’ve taken the college football world by storm this season. Each home football game, they can be seen performing in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
@mdb.percussion RIGHT ABOVE IT 🤝 #alabama #rightaboveit #fy #football #milliondollarbanddrumline
That was again the case this past Saturday as the Crimson Tide downed Wisconsin, 38-14. It was the band’s second appearance in the stands following an opener against Louisiana-Monroe.
The Alabama band, like many around the country, takes pride in tradition. Crimson Tide fight songs and other more typical tunes heard around college stadiums own a spot on each weekly set list.
@mdb.percussion WINNING INTO THE BYE #alabama #collegeband #fy #football #milliondollarbanddrumline
The group went viral this season, however, by going a bit off the beaten path. They performed a 90s hit that’s united football fans.
Green Day’s “Basket Case” echoed throughout T-Town.
The 1994 release can be found on the punk rock band’s Dookie album. It spent five weeks atop US Billboard’s Alternative Songs Chart while garnering a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Vocal Performance.
It ranked No. 150 on Rolling Stone’s 2021 edition of 500 greatest songs of all-time.
Billie Joe Armstrong wrote “Basket Case” as a way to process the panic disorder that plagued him in his younger years. “The only way I knew how to deal with it,” he said, “was to write a song about it.” Written from the perspective of a jittery “melodramatic fool” unable to tell if he’s paranoid or stoned, the song became an MTV favorite in the mid-Nineties, and remains a key part of Green Day’s live show to this day. “It’s about other people now,” Armstrong told Rolling Stone in 2014. “When I look at people as we play that song, they’re having their own moment. At that point, I’m the audience.”
The Alabama band performed its rendition of Green Day’s “Basket Case” earlier this year. A video posted to TikTok now has 44,000 likes and nearly 400 comments.
@mdb.percussion DO YOU HAVE THE TIME TO LISTEN TO ME WHINE 😎 #alabama #collegeband #fy #football #milliondollarbanddrumline
What the people are saying.
“Not gonna lie, that’s a great marching band rendition of that song,” said one Ohio State Buckeyes supporter. “I may say, ‘Go Bucks,’ but I love every band no matter what school,” echoed another.
Former coach Nick Saban’s daughter, Kristen, had this to say: “Just one time in my life… teach me to do this.”
“I bleed orange, but that was pretty d— good,” wrote a rival Tennessee fan. Another commented, “I’m all Vol, but I sure do love hearing the Million Dollar Band!!!”
This is not the first time the Alabama band has performed the song live. They broke out the Green Day hit in the Iron Bowl last year while facing Auburn.
@mdb.percussion Gonna miss putting the 4’s up! #fy #milliondollarband #rolltide #alabama
The most recent performance, however, is getting much more attention. It’s been able to unite college football fans! Viewers put their school affiliations on pause to give the Million Dollar Band their flowers.
It will be fun to see which songs the group pulls out next as the 2025 season continues on.