Ongoing History Daily: Green Day vs. Perry Farrell & Lollapalooza

In 1994, Green Day was starting to build a reputation based on the Dookie album, which was released that February. When it came time to cast the lineup for that year’s Lollapalooza Festival, Green Day’s name was brought up. Including them seemed like a safe bet. But Perry Farrell, singer for Jane’s Addiction and one of the co-founders of Lollapalooza, was dead against signing up Green Day.

“They’re a boy band,” he said, “I don’t want to book a boy band.” This was the only time anyone can remember Farrell vetoing a band recommendation for Lollapalooza.

Fortunately for Green Day, though, they had a label and management that believed in them. They went to bat for Green Day, and after some long and tense discussions, they were added to the second half of the tour and were given just a 30-minute set. That set included their song “Chump,” which they dedicated to Perry.