What began in 1991 as a small farewell tour for Perry Farrell and Jane's Addiction has since become one of the most important music festivals in the world: Lollapalooza. And in a new Paramount+ documentary titled Lolla: The Story of Lollapaloozathe rock star and his peers give an oral history of how it all came to be — as teased in the project's new trailer, which Advertising sign premiere exclusively.
From 90s rockers to hip-hop stars, Lola brings together many of the visionaries involved in some of the earliest Lollapalooza tours. “It felt like a revolution,” Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor recalls in the trailer, talking about the festival's beginnings as an anti-establishment, pro-people musical melting pot.
“We were all underground bands, but that was changing,” adds Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Flea, while Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello tells the camera, “This was the Declaration of Independence of alternative nation.”
As time went on, Lollapalooza continued to innovate—and in doing so, its popularity began to overshadow its underground roots. “When the car is going really, really fast, it gets harder and harder to jump out,” Farrell comments in the trailer. “We were a victim of our own success.”
The project also features Metallica's Lars Ulrich, Ice-T and Chicago native Chance the Rapper, who muses in the new clip, “Lolla picks great people [to perform] when no one has heard them.”
Lola It's also sure to feature old and recent footage from Lollapalooza shows over the years, with clips from Green Day, Billie Eilish, Marshmello and dozens more appearing in the trailer. Now a global phenomenon with annual offshoots in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, France, Sweden and India, Lollapalooza was the first festival to mix genres in its billing, expand to multiple days and introduce a second stage . This year, the August event will be headlined by SZA, Tyler, the Creator, Blink-182, The Killers and more.
Directed by Michael John Warren, the three-part series will be released exclusively on Paramount+ on May 21. It premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in January.
Watch the trailer for Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza over.
