Lollapalooza /ˌlɒləpəˈluːzə/ is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups.
Conceived and created in 1991 by Jane's Addiction singer Perry Farrell as a farewell tour for his band, Lollapalooza ran annually until 1997, and was revived in 2003. From its inception through 1997, and its revival in 2003, the festival toured North America. In 2004, the festival organizers decided to expand the dates to two days per city, but poor ticket sales forced the 2004 tour to be cancelled.[1] In 2005, Farrell and the William Morris Agency partnered up with Austin, Texas-based company Capital Sports Entertainment (now C3 Presents) and retooled it into its current format as a weekend destination festival in Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois. In 2010 it was announced that Lollapalooza would debut overseas, with a branch of the festival staged in Chile's capital Santiago on April 2–3, 2011 where they partnered up with Santiago-based company Lotus. In 2011, the company Geo Events confirmed the Brazilian version of the event, which will be held at the Jockey Club in São Paulo on 7 and 8 April 2012.[2][3]
The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a three day period. Lollapalooza has featured a diverse range of bands and has helped expose and popularize artists such as Beastie Boys, Coldplay, Stone Temple Pilots, Depeche Mode, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, The Cure, Primus, The Killers, Rage Against the Machine, Arcade Fire, Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction, X Japan, Audioslave, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Smashing Pumpkins, Muse, Alice in Chains, Björk, MGMT, Foster the People, Tool, Hole, Body Count, Ice-T, Queens of the Stone Age, The Drums, The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, Calvin Harris, Thenewno2, Fishbone, Butthole Surfers and Lady Gaga.
You can argue how great an impact Lollapalooza has ultimately had on rock 'n' roll since the festival began in 1991. One thing that's inarguable: its effect on the English language.
Probably no suffix has gained traction in the last quarter-century quite like "-palooza." Tracking the origins of the word and its outgrowth and myriad variations since Perry Farrell popularized it in 1991 makes for a real...etymology-palooza. (Sorry.)
Lollapalooza takes place this weekend in Chicago, having been reborn in 2009 as a geographically sedentary three-day festival, as opposed to its original traveling circus format. One thing that hasn't changed over the last 21 years is the delight with which people let the L-word trip off their tongues...or mash other words into it.
But the name didn't seem like a great idea to everyone at the time. Marc Geiger, Farrell's business partner in the festival, recalled his reaction upon first hearing it. In December 1990, Farrell "called my house at 1 in the morning and said 'Geiger, I got the name!' 'Okay!' [With] Perry, you never know what he's gonna come up with, and it was always exciting," Geiger recalled a few years ago. "He goes 'Lollapalooza.' I remember just thinking: Nooooooo!" But he tried not to be a negative nellie about the idea. "I lived with it and I thought, okay, people are gonna remember that name the minute they hear it."
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