A new book is on the way highlighting the world famous alternative music festival, Lollapalozza. The highly successful touring show initially ran from 1991 to 1997 and has returned at various times in various cities around the globe ever since. The biggest version of the festival now takes place yearly in Chicago.
“Lollapalooza: The Uncensored Story,” digs into the personal struggles and backstage drama among bands that performed the festival. Some of that drama includes the interaction between punk rock legends Green Day and Lollapalooza founder and Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell. Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong said in the book: “Perry was a f*cking a*sshole, straight up. For us it was really disappointing, because Perry was someone that we really respected. I think that made us want to play it even more, actually, because we wanted to prove that he had his head very far up his own *ss.”
Lollapalooza’s second-stage manager John Rubeli said that Farrell considered Green Day a “boy band” that was created by the music industry.
“I can’t think of a single time that Perry pushed back or vetoed a band — except Green Day,” Rubeli said. “To Perry’s credit, I was able to go through the band’s history in the Bay Area and how they had released indie records and eventually he said, ‘Okay, they can do half the tour.’”
