Lollapalooza, returning in 2026, was inaugurated in 1991.
Jane’s Addiction singer Perry Farrell conceived Lollapalooza as a farewell tour for his band. The inaugural edition toured North America rather than taking place at one permanent site, running through multiple cities in the United States and Canada.
Its original bill reflected the alternative and countercultural music scene of the early 1990s, with acts including Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, Ice-T, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Living Colour. That touring format distinguished the first festival from the Chicago event audiences know today.
A common mix-up is the date 2005, when Lollapalooza became a major annual festival in Grant Park after earlier attempts to revive it. The festival’s permanent Chicago era therefore came later; its origin is firmly in 1991.