In a recent Rolling Stone interview, Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell revealed how much money he was offered to sell Lollapalooza.
Would it be accurate to say that the smartest business decision you ever made was not selling the Lollapalooza name?
Yeah. By 1997, a few other festivals showed up, diluting the pool of artists. And we decided to lay it to rest. Following that, I would get hit up: “Sell it to me for $1 million.” I would just keep saying, “No. I’m not giving it to you. I’d rather be buried with the name.” And I was broke! And then eventually Jane’s [Addiction] came back to do a record, and I said, “You know what? I’m gonna do another Lollapalooza and get the carnival going again.”
And now you’ve invested your own money in Kind Heaven, the elaborate multimedia, augmented-reality destination you’re working on in Las Vegas. Why?
In Vegas, they want skin in the game. I felt like, “Whoa, I’m really dealing with some tough dudes here.” Like, at the last minute, they go, “No, I need money from you!” And at first I was like, “No, you don’t pull that shit on me.” But now, I can look at all my partners, and if anybody fucks with me, I’m gonna say to them, “Look, I’m a true partner here. I’m not a little kid anymore where William Morris or Live Nation is my daddy.”
