Entertainment

Lollapalooza 2025

Elena Abarra, Staff Reporter • May 30, 2025

From July 31st to August 3rd, taking place right here in Chicago, is the annual Lollapalooza Music Festival. Known for its excellent blend of headliners, rising talent, and crowd favorites hosting everyone from festival connoisseurs to simple music lovers, Lollapalooza is said to be the most popular and iconic music festival in the United States, hosting roughly 400,000–600,000 people and selling out yearly. And with that, let’s take a dive into how it all started…

History of Lollapalooza

Once a year, right in the heart of Chicago, C3 presents their creation: Lollapalooza. Lollapalooza is a multi-genre music festival which started out as a touring event in 1991 and is now an annual event held in Grant Park. Created by Perry Farrell, it is known for its diverse lineup. The festival presents genres including alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock, hip-hop, electronic music, and so much more. First presented on July 18th, 1991, in Tempe, Arizona at Compton Terrace, the lineup included the hits at the time: Jane’s Addiction, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Living Colour, Nine Inch Nails, Ice-T, Butthole Surfers, and the Rollins Band. Although only a tiny selection of groups and artists started this festival, the first Lollapalooza was set into action and has since then grown in size and influence around the world.

Lollapalooza, or “Lolla” as it is referred to by fans, was originally created in 1991 as a farewell tour by Perry Farrell, who was leader of the rock band Jane’s Addiction. The first Lollapalooza tour traveled to 20 cities across the U.S. and Canada, achieving groundbreaking success and achieving mainstream status with the public. After a successful run of back-to-back tours, the festival went on a pause after the 1997 edition. The rock band Jane’s Addiction reunited and revived Lollapalooza in 2003. Unfortunately, the revival tour was not a success during the 2003 season and was canceled in 2004 due to low ticket sales. However, Farrell took a new course of action and turned Lolla into a “destination festival.” He made Chicago’s Grant Park the permanent location for upcoming concerts, and the city of Chicago is on board, as it has recently signed a contract with the festival to keep it in the city until 2032. This means we have 7 more years of Lolla in Chicago, and then we can hope Chicago re-signs after their contract is up.

2025 Lineup

This year, there are over 170 artists performing across 8 different stages throughout 4 days at Lolla, featuring big hit artists like Sabrina Carpenter, Tyler the Creator, A$AP Rocky, Doechii, and plenty more. But one can wonder: how do the festival organizers choose all these artists? Well, to even get noticed by the festival organizers, you have to have a very good booking manager/agent to pitch to the organizers about coming and performing. Though it is not officially stated, the organizers usually look for standards when reviewing different performers, mainly surrounding your presence to the public.

Starting with, you have to be able to prove you can draw and attract an audience through ticket sales, live performances, social media following, or other publicity actions. They won’t let you onstage if you can’t prove you can pull an audience in. Along with that standard would be having a well-established brand and profile for yourself and your music. While maintaining a steady and significant fan base, they need to know that you’re a reliable contender and can count on people from your fan base to show up to the festival.

And after an artist meets the specifications of the organizers, they are eventually chosen to be featured in the festival. Finishing with them and 170+ other artists/bands, the organizers finally have an official lineup for that year.

EPHS’s Expectations

Hit artists of now; Rufus Du Sol in the top left corner, A$AP Rocky in the top right, Sabrina Carpenter on the left, Tyler, the Creator in the middle and Olivia Rodrigo on the right. All expected to open and perform at Lolla.

With Elmwood Park being the next neighboring town right outside of Chicago, you can only guess that EP kids are brightened with excitement about this festival every year—getting to see the world’s top artists while being so close to home. And with that, let’s see what your very own EPHS students think about this year’s lineup.

Out of the 23 responses I received from EP students via Google Form survey, 26% of answers are most excited for Tyler the Creator to perform, 13% are rooting for A$AP Rocky and Olivia Rodrigo, and 17% are excited to see Sabrina Carpenter, who is coming off her Short n’ Sweet Tour.

Conclusion

And just like that, there are only 5 more weeks until Chicago is filled with the greatest hits of today and concertgoers from all over the U.S. I hope my article helped you decide whether or not this iconic music festival is worth your while to attend this summer.

Works Cited:

Lollapalooza American festival. (2025, May 17). Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/Lollapalooza
(Lollapalooza 2025, 05, 2025)
support.Lollapalooza. (2021). Lollapalooza. https://support.lollapalooza.com/hc/en-us/articles/4402035681428-I-m-a-band-artist-How-can-I-play-the-festival
The History of Lollapalooza. Chase Bank. https://www.chase.com/personal/credit-cards/education/basics/the-history-of-lollapalooza

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About the Contributor

Elena Abarra, Staff Reporter

Hey! My name is Elena Abarra, and I am currently a freshman at Elmwood Park High School. I am on the JV Cheerleading team at EPHS. I am also involved in DECA, Student Council, and Operation Snowball. I love to read, watch TV, run, play piano, and play sports in my free time. Some goals I have are to travel as much of the world as I can and to work hard in school to set myself up for success. My plans after high school are to go to either the University of Hawaii, New York University, or Michigan State University, most likely to study business.