Derrick Green

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Green is the youngest of three children; his sister Renée Green is an artist, writer, and filmmaker. Green's father, Friendly, an electrician, and mother, Gloria, a music teacher, moved the family from inner-city Cleveland to suburban Shaker Heights when Green was 7. "This was my first live interaction with white people," Green later recalled. From an early age, Green wished to travel and live outside the United States; he went to Berlin for a time before moving from New York to São Paulo.

In 2011, when asked about his religious views, Green replied:

I think there is a connection that is missing between nature and people. We're connected. People cannot live without nature. And I feel this is something that is a very powerful inner phase, indisputable and very realistic. And it's in a sense a God in itself, this planet, it's something beautiful and very powerful and gives so much nourishment to its people and everything around us and I feel to be connected with that is something that we need to re-learn. So for me, my religion is this planet and having that connection and trying my best to learn to deal with it. Green speaks fluent Portuguese with a noticeable American accent. He previously lived in Carapicuíba, São Paulo, but now lives in Los Angeles. Green is a vegan. He has been a vegetarian since 1986. He made this publicly clear in a PETA video interview regarding Sepultura's 2006 video of the song "Convicted in Life". He stated in the interview that the subject of this video is that some kind of "karma" is inflicted on those that damage the environment and its wildlife.