1991

Frontman Perry Farrell conceives of Lollapalooza as farewell tour for his band, Jane's Addiction. The name Lollapalooza, which means "something outstanding or unusual," was taken from a Three Stooges short film that Farrell had seen. Rapper Ice T debuts his band Body Count, who went on to release controversial song "Cop Killer" a year later.

Main Stage Lineup: Jane's Addiction, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Living Colour, Nine Inch Nails, Ice T & Body Count, Butthole Surfers, Rollins Band, Violent Femmes, Fishbone

1992

Festival-goers ripped up sod and grass while starting impromptu bonfires at Pine Knob Music Theater in Clarkston, MI, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars in damage and causing the management at Pine Knob to refuse the festival the following year. Oddly, they welcomed the festival back for the 1994 and subsequent festivals. This year saw the introduction of the side stage, which featured up-and-coming bands.

Main Stage Lineup: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ministry, Ice Cube, Soundgarden, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Pearl Jam, Lush

1993

Instead of playing their usual set at the Philadelphia show that year, Rage Against the Machine infamously protested what they saw as censorship by the Parents Music Resource Center by standing completely nude for 15 minutes with duct tape over their mouths and feedback emitting from their amps. As an apology to fans, they later held a show free of charge.

Main Stage Lineup: Primus, Alice in Chains, Dinosaur Jr., Fishbone, Arrested Development, Front 242, Babes in Toyland, Rage Against the Machine

1994

Nirvana pulled out of the headlining spot on April 7, and the next day frontman Kurt Cobain is found dead of a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. Using time lent by headliners The Smashing Pumpkins, Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, made appearances at several of the tour stops to speak about the loss.

Main Stage Lineup: The Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, George Clinton & the P. Funk All-Stars, The Breeders, A Tribe Called Quest, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, L7, (first half of the tour) Boredoms, (second half of the tour) Green Day

1995

A year after husband Kurt Cobain's death, Courtney Love and her band, Hole, themselves co-headlined Lollapalooza with Sonic Youth. Love spent many of her sets reacting to a crowd who came to see Mrs. Cobain rather than a musical performance, challenging crowd members to fights and dealing with taunts about "dead rock stars" and thrown Nirvana shirts. Early on, Sinéad O'Connor dropped out of the lineup because of pregnancy. She was replaced by Moby and Elastica.

Main Stage Lineup: Sonic Youth, Hole, Cypress Hill, Pavement, Sinéad O'Connor (replaced by Elastica and Moby), Beck, The Jesus Lizard, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

1996

Less than a year before their breakup in April 1997, Soundgarden (along with Rage Against the Machine) became the first band to play the main stage two different years. Many felt Metallica's inclusion made the lineup too mainstream. Perry Farrell sold his financial interest in Lollapalooza to the William Morris Agency, focusing instead on a new festival project, ENIT. ENIT participants were invited to take part in drum circles, tree plantings and music performances in an attempt to establish contact with extra-terrestrials. No, really.

Main Stage Lineup: 311, Metallica, Soundgarden, The Ramones, Rancid, Shaolin Monks, Screaming Trees, Psychotica. Selected dates: Devo, Cheap Trick, Rage Against the Machine, Cocteau Twins, Waylon Jennings, Violent Femmes, The Tea Party, Wu Tang Clan, Steve Earle

1997

Due to declining attendance and the increasing difficulty of securing headliners for the festival, this would become the last Lollapalooza until 2003.

Main Stage Lineup: Orbital, Devo, The Prodigy, The Orb, Tool, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Tricky, Korn, James, Julian and Damian Marley and the Uprising Band, Eels, Failure

2003

Perry Farrell reconvened Jane's Addiction to coincide with his re-launching of Lollapalooza. Reception is tepid for the 30-city tour because of high ticket prices.

Main Stage Lineup: Jane's Addiction, Audioslave, Incubus, Queens of the Stone Age (first half of the tour), A Perfect Circle (second half), Jurassic 5, The Donnas, The Distillers, Rooney

2004

The 2004 festival was to be the biggest yet, with two-day stops at each location and a diverse roster of bands, including Morrissey, Wilco and Sonic Youth. Weak ticket sales, however, prevailed and the entire festival was cancelled before a single show was played.

Planned Lineup: Morrissey, PJ Harvey, Modest Mouse, Sonic Youth, Le Tigre, The Killers, Wilco, The Flaming Lips, The Von Bondies, String Cheese Incident, Gomez, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Secret Machines, Danger Mouse, The Polyphonic Spree, Broken Social Scene, The Datsuns, Bumblebeez 81, Brayndead Freakshow, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Elbow, Wheat, The Coup, Wolf Eyes, The Dresden Dolls

2005

Lollapalooza was finally successfully reinvented. The winning formula? A two-day, single-city event in Chicago's Grant Park. The 2005 festival featured 70 acts over 7 stages and was generally lucrative enough to be revived in the same format in future years.

Lineup Sample: Weezer, Primus, Cake, Liz Phair, Widespread Panic, Drive-By Truckers, Dinosaur Jr., Pixies, Billy Idol, Dashboard Confessional, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, The Killers, Arcade Fire, Satellite Party, OK Go, Digable Planets, The Black Keys, The Bravery, Kaiser Chiefs, The Warlocks Death Cab for Cutie, Spoon, Ben Kweller, Louis XIV, Saul Williams, The Walkmen, Blonde Redhead, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Dandy Warhols, G Love & Special Sauce, Tegan and Sara, DJ Muggs, VHS or Beta, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Soulive, Los Amigos Invisibles.

2006

Based on the success of the 2005's event, Lollapalooza and Chicago's Grant Park inked a 5-year deal that will keep the festival in Chicago until 2011. The concert continued its expansion by adding an extra day and increasing the number of acts performing.

Lineup Sample: Panic! at the Disco, Umphrey's McGee, The Raconteurs, Ween Gnarls Barkley, Common, Kanye West, Sparta, Queens of the Stone Age, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ryan Adams, My Morning Jacket, Death Cab for Cutie, Nada Surf, Built to Spill, Sonic Youth, The Flaming Lips, Manu Chao, The Shins, Wilco, Iron & Wine, Sleater-Kinney, Feist, Thievery Corporation, Frames, Andrew Bird, Poi Dog Pondering, Blues Traveler, Editors, Cursive, The Secret Machines, The Violent Femmes, Wolfmother, The Hold Steady, 30 Seconds to Mars, Jeremy Enigk, Lady Sovereign, Lyrics Born, Blackalicious, Reverend Horton Heat, Mates of State, Rainer Maria, Cold War Kids, Of Montreal, Jon McLaughlin, Deadsy

- Taylor Grimes