Perry Farrell moves to clarify Lollapalooza stance on EDM

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Jane's Addiction frontman Perry Farrell says he is "passionate" about dance music and has "always fought" for underground acts to perform at Lollapalooza

Perry Farrell
Perry Farrell (Image credit: Getty)

Jane’s Addiction’s Perry Farrell has moved to clarify his festival Lollapalooza’s stance on EDM.

The vocalist recently admitted he is beginning to hate what his Lollapalooza festival has become 25 years after he conceived the event.

He said that he cringes when he thinks of the electronic dance acts that appear on Perry’s, the stage named after him, adding: “I hate EDM. I want to vomit it out of my nostrils. I can’t stand what it did to what I love, which is house music, which was meditative, psychedelic—it took you on a journey.”

Now Perry insists that he loves dance music and has long fought for the inclusion of alternative acts to Lollapalooza – though he admits that there are a number of big-time artists that, in his view, have changed the face of EDM for the worse.

He says: “My comments to the Chicago Tribune were unrestrained and straight from my heart. They were in response to questioning I was asked about EDM.

“Let me state in my own words to you, ‘I love dance music. I fought to bring dance music to Lollapalooza, where there were no acts being booked. They named the area after me because of my passion for dance music and the DJ culture.’

“The critic I spoke with from the Chicago Tribune was very knowledgable about dance music. I agreed with a lot of what he said.”

He continues: “That there were some important artists that we have overlooked. I also agreed with him that there were some artists that we both didn’t care for – but I won’t reveal any names. Their music did make me puke. I admitted it.

“At least you all know I’m not a tasteless con artist. I am a musician who learned to be a promoter – who continues to have people’s trust.”

Jane’s Addiction are nearing the end of a brief US tour that includes an appearance at Lollapalooza on July 30.

Jane’s Addiction tour dates

Jul 27: Chicago Metro, IL
Jul 28: Chicago Metro, IL
Jul 30: Chicago Lollapalooza, IL
Sep 02: Denver Riot Fest, CO
Sep 23: Las Vegas Life Is Beautiful, NV

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Christina O'Neill

Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.