By Larisha Paul
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Lollapalooza‘s historic performance archive is the main character in the forthcoming documentary series Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza. The first trailer for the three-part docuseries, premiering May 21 on Paramount+, highlights pivotal performances from Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Green Day, and Jane’s Addiction, the root of the festival that originated as a farewell tour for Perry Farrell and Co.
“When a car is going real, real fast, it gets harder to jump out,” Farrell says in the trailer. Lollapalooza began in the summer of 1991 as a particularly underground event. In the more than three decades since, the festival has transformed into a popular culture staple where some of the biggest names in pop — from Ariana Grande and the Weeknd to Kendrick Lamar and Lana Del Rey — have delivered headlining performances.
Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ice Cube, Soundgarden, Tool, Hole, Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Arrested Development, Primus, Alice in Chains, the Verve, Beastie Boys, the Breeders, A Tribe Called Quest, the Smashing Pumpkins, Moby, Coolio, Beck, the Pixies, Pearl Jam, Kim Petra, Steve Aoki, Miley Cyrus, Sinead O’Connor, Questlove & the Roots, the Ramones, are among the artists that appear in the trailer.
Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza features commentary from Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea, Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor, Ice-T, Jessica Hopper, Chance the Rapper, and more.
“Let’s bring real music to the world,” Farrell says at the end of the clip. “That’s entertainment.”
Details about Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza first emerged more than a year ago, in February 2023. At the time, Farrell shared a statement motioning towards the same car metaphor he mentions in the trailer.
“When Lolla was launched in 1991, the concert industry felt like a boring car ride that was running out of gas,” he said at the time. “We pumped new life into the live music experience and set the foundation for the youth’s counter culture to become important and exciting again. Now more than three decades young, I am happy to have this opportunity to give people an inside look at the festival’s contribution to music history.”
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