Lollapalooza is known for wild antics and great music. But you know what's even better? When you add them together, then multiply with a little 'WTF' for good measure.
Billboard recently compiled their favorite Lollapalooza 'WTF?!' moments ahead of the event this weekend where it comes of age with its 21st outing.
5. Naked Rage Against The Machine
The political rockers were furious when Al Gore's wife Tipper was going to lead a charge from the PMRC to add a 'Parental Advisory' sticker to explicit albums and singles in 1993. In hindsight the sticker seems quite reasonable, but RATM hate censorship of any kind and decided to use their Lollapalooza set to protest instead of perform.
4. Courtney Love Sings For Kurt
Nirvana cancelled their headline Lollapalooza set on April 7, 1994. One day later, Kurt Cobain's body was found in Seattle. Later on the Lollapalooza tour, his wife took to the stage during Smashing Pumpkins' set to sing two songs for her deceased husband, switching out lyrics and asking for a moment's silence at the 6min mark. It would be a heart-warming moment if you could get past the cliched 90s-style performance.
3. Lady Gaga Dives Into Crowd Almost Naked
Before she hit the big time as a mainstream popstar, Lady Gaga made Semi-Precious Weapons' 2007 set one of the most talked-about moments all weekend when she dived into the crowed wearing almost nothing. Look at that dude's face when she lands on him. Classic!
2. Nine Inch Nails Trash Stage
When Trent Reznor faced electrical problems during his 1991 set, he did what any self-respecting rock star would do: trash the sh-t out of everything.
1. Rock Stars Drink Puke'WTF?!' indeed. In 1992, artists from the main stage including Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Soundgarden's Chris Cornell and Ministry's Al Jourgenson drank bile fresh from the stomach of performance artist Matt The Tube (from about 5 min into the video). There's plenty of creepy stuff in this video, and to be honest we found it hard to watch. Can you brave it?
Thanks to Billboard for compiling the original list.
In hindsight the sticker seems quite reasonable...
most of us only feel that way because it kinda became a "cool"-sticker. Even though it didn't really provide any information as to what kind of music you were purchasing, it did tell you something about the artist: Will Smith and Shania Twain records didn't carry the sticker (AKA "this sh*t is radio friendly and unlikely to scar your fragile little mind"), Rage and Ice Cube records did (AKA "call your friends so you can listen to this record in the basement while your parent's aren't home"). It certainly hasn't stopped musicians from swearing
But that doesn't mean it's not bullsh*t. A lot of retailers won't carry your records if they happen to feature the label, and the standards according to which the rating is applied are highly dubious: for instance, the label was once imposed on an instrumental Zappa record because one of the songs was titled G-spot tornado.... Hide your kids!!!
The RATM thing wasn't directed against the Tipper sticker, which was introduced like 8 years earlier (although I'm sure they don't support the idea of this label either: Tom's mother Mary founded a group which opposed censorship in popular music during the 80's). The naked Lolla protest was rather directed against the efforts by the PMRC to ban "profane" records from the TV and airwaves altogether. Killing in the Name was a notable victim: I'm still amazed at how famous that track became despite the vast amount of radio stations, etc. who continue to edit or boycot the song
OK, did anyone else find Courtney Love's appearance just disgusting? And not just for the usual reasons. Just days after her husband committed suicide, she went onstage in a slutty, revealing outfit and sang his songs. That chick is the Yoko Ono of Grunge.
OK, did anyone else find Courtney Love's appearance just disgusting? And not just for the usual reasons. Just days after her husband committed suicide, she went onstage in a slutty, revealing outfit and sang his songs. That chick is the Yoko Ono of Grunge.
I used to think that too. But, then I thought Yoko Ono isn't as bad.
