With the 15th edition kicking off June 9, past performers and key figures trace its wild history.
I was like, Why doesnt the States have more of these?
I was like, This is an idea whose time had come.
Credit: Kravitz/FilmMagic
I started talking with [event production company] Superflythey had Jazz Fest in New Orleans.
JONATHAN MAYERS, Festival cofounder, Superfly: We connected in 2001, I was very inspired.
Wed been to some of the European festivals and always had a dream to do a fest.
We started looking at sites in the Southeast.
CAPPS: We poked all over the Southeast, actually.
We thought, wow, how are they going to pull that off?
CAPPS: Oh man, we brainstormed thousands of names [for the festival].
We looked it up and it was a Creole slang word for good stuff.
Everyone rallied around that.
Once we had a band of their stature, people started buying into the concept.
I thought, Good God!
This wont do no better than Itchycoo.
The fest sold all 70,000 ticketsand quickly.
CAPPS: We sold like 12,000 tickets [that day].
We hoped to sell 6,000 or 7,000 in those first two weeks.
We were like, Oh my God.
What are we going to do?
After a couple more days we had to raise the priceand then they sold even quicker!
It was all because of that data pipe of fans that the bands had established on the Internet.
Jam bands pioneered the use of the Internet to communicate directly with their fans.
In the months that followed, organizers worked tirelessly to get the grounds ready.
On June 21, 2002, they opened the gates.
It was like Shakedown Street.
I was like, This is amazing, and Oh s, can we get arrested for this?
The patrolman said, Not on my watch.
That afternoon, I ran into [him].
He said, Traffics backed up 20 miles.
Next year were doing it your way.
PENNINGTON: It flat out stopped our town.
The biggest challenge was that we had underestimated what they told us to expect.
The cashiers there got a real surprise.
LUTHER DICKINSON, North Mississippi Allstars: The infrastructure was so good.
CHALI 2NA, Jurassic 5: We were festival veterans as far as Europe is concerned.
It felt good to travel to a remote place, see the dopest bands, and party like that.
Our crew went way off course.
Over the years, Bonnaroo has become famous for all-night sets.
MOLITZ: We played at, like, 3:30 p.m. and partied all day.
JAMES: One of the fun things about Bonnaroo is that nobody has to worry about any normal-life concerns.
Youre on a different plane of existence.
So its fun to say, F it, lets keep playing.
Theres no reason for any rules.
SKRILLEX: It was the craziest amount of work ever for one show.
[But] that first moment, walking out and [U.K. MC] Sgt.
Pokes saying, Bonnaroo!
This is the SuperJam!
The festival has evolved beyond its jam-band roots.
Top rock acts like Radiohead and Metallica have headlined.
I was with the band and told them, Its the closest to the European festival that youll find.
You would really enjoy this.
Shortly after, they made the decision to do Bonnaroo.
[With Kanye West], that was a particularly complicated situationthere was a breakdown in communication.
But I still thought that st he was doing was cool.
2NA: I was on around the same time [as West].
And I had like 8,000 people there but because people were leaving his set!
So by the time Im five or six songs in, my tent is spilling out!
I gave him a shout outI said, Yo!
Big up to Kanye West!
Whatever youre doing over there, man, my tent is extremely packed right now!
[But] if you like something, youre going to be way less vocal about it.
Youre not going to be all over the message boards like, Fk!
Fast-forward a few years and [all three are] headlining.
To me, thats like, How could this festival not have an effect on contemporary music?
JAMES: Bonnaroo has been special to us.
Weve kind of been on the same trajectorythough I think Bonnaroo has grown more than we have.
By the time they got to the festival, they had talked us into letting them exit the tent.
TED DWANE, Mumford & Sons: I dont remember that!
If you want, the guys will get up there with you.
It was one of the most significant musical days weve had in America.
By 2013, Mumford & Sons had upgraded to a headlining slot.
Doctors found a clot in his brain and he underwent surgery immediately.
DWANE: I thought that was so cool that he did that.
Im not up for it.
But he was fine to jump on stage and do Bonnaroo without any rehearsal.
In 2015, the band finally got their set.
Its like youre out in the future in this crazy, lawless place.
We came from this confrontational punk-rock thing, and Bonnaroo, it changed us.
We thought, Thats how we want to be.
People who saw us that night just loved us.
Everybody would say, Were all here together and fk all that.
GARY CLARK JR.: I didnt really know what to expect.
You know if someone is coming to Bonnaroo theyre a real music lover, because you have to commit.
DWANE:Our first impression of Bonnaroo was the best you could imagine.
Coachella is very smoothies and protein shakes, Bonnaroo is a bit more hippie, a bit more out-there.
Not to undermine Coachella, but [Bonnaroo] is our people.
A version of this story originally appeared in the May 27, 2016 issue ofEntertainment Weekly.
