Rise Against on Mixing Politics and Mosh Pits at Lollapalooza

Rise Against's fiery Saturday afternoon set at Lollapalooza looked like it could have gone down during one of the great Lollas of the '90s — mosh pit and all. Frontman Tim McIlrath tells Rolling Stone the show had special significance for the band, not only because it was their first hometown gig in a while (they skipped Chicago on tour with Rancid), but because Grant Park has so much historical weight: "To play the same place where Obama gave his speech, the same place where the riots of 1968 were, during the Democratic National Convention — this park has a lot of history to it." Catch some of the band's killer set and the rest of the interview, above.

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Song Stories

“Baby Got Back”

Sir Mix-a-Lot | 1992

While watching a Budweiser commercial during the Super Bowl, Sir Mix-a-Lot thought the skinny female models in the ad didn’t represent reality. So he wrote this ode to ample bottoms, featuring its famous to-the-point lyric: “I like big butts and I cannot lie.” MTV banished the video, featuring shaking booties and sexually suggestive fruit, to 9 p.m. or later. “I thought my career was over,” he told Rolling Stone. “Then I called Rick Rubin, and I told him the video was banned, and he was like, 'Great!' We sold another 2 million records.”

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