YOUNG LOVE: It’s still a long time...

YOUNG LOVE: It’s still a long time before Lollapalooza ’95 hits the road next summer, but Pop Eye has learned that negotiations are already under way for Neil Young to headline the alternative-rock fest this time around.

While the last Lollapalooza included veteran funkster George Clinton on the roster, this would be the first time in the tour’s five-year history that it will be headlined by someone who’s not part of Generation X.

Young, though, is seen by many young rock fans as the “godfather of grunge” and has regularly tabbed such alternative stars as Pearl Jam and Sonic Youth to open his concerts.

Would Young’s older fans brave a day of Lollapalooza, with its massive crowds and hours of lesser-known acts, to see him?

“I imagine it would bring out more Neil Young fans,” says CMJ editor Megan McLaughlin. “Though Young has always attracted fans who are a little adventurous, willing to stick with him for whatever he does.”

Other names prominently mentioned as candidates for Lollapalooza consideration include Nine Inch Nails and Hole. NIN, which played on the first Lollapalooza tour, seems a long shot, given leader Trent Reznor’s past criticisms of the venture. Hole is seen as a more likely possibility, since singer Courtney Love made some of her first concert appearances after the suicide of her husband Kurt Cobain as a surprise addition to a few Lollapalooza ’94 shows.