The Smashing Pumpkins are an alternative rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. The band was formed by guitarist/vocalist Billy Corgan and guitarist James Iha after the demise of Corgan's first band, the Marked. The two musicians were soon joined by bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. Since its inception, the Smashing Pumpkins has gone through multiple line-up changes, with Corgan the only consistent member.
Their current formation includes Corgan alongside Iha (who rejoined in 2018) and Chamberlin, who has had four tenures. The band also tours with bassist Jack Bates (in 2015 and since 2018) and multi-instrumentalist Katie Cole (since 2015).
After the breakup of his gothic rock band the Marked, singer and guitarist Billy Corgan left St. Petersburg, Florida, to return to his native city of Chicago, where he took a job in a record store. While working there, he met guitarist James Iha. The pair soon began writing songs together with the aid of a drum machine. [1] Corgan met bassist D'arcy Wretzky in mid 1988 after a show by the Dan Reed Network where they argued the merits of the band. After finding out Wretzky played bass, Corgan stated his band's need for a bassist and gave Wretzky his telephone number. Wretzky soon joined the band, and she and Iha later had a short-lived romance. [2]
The first performance of the Smashing Pumpkins was on July 9, 1988, at the Polish bar Chicago 21. This performance included only Corgan and Iha with a drum machine. [3] On August 10, 1988, the band played for the first time as a trio at the Avalon Nightclub. [4] After this show, Cabaret Metro owner Joe Shanahan agreed to book the band on the condition that they replace the drum machine with a live drummer. Jazz drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was recruited for the band after a recommendation from a friend of Corgan's. [4] On October 5, 1988, the complete band took the stage for the first time at the Cabaret Metro. [4]
Soon after the release of their third album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness in 1995, the group recruited keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin to perform on the ensuing tour. However, on July 11, 1996, Melvion and Chamberlin overdosed on heroin in a New York City hotel room. Melvoin died, and Chamberlin was arrested for drug possession. A few days later, the band announced that Chamberlin had been fired as a result of the incident. [5] The Pumpkins chose to finish the tour, and hired drummer Matt Walker and keyboardist Dennis Flemion as temporary replacements. Corgan later said the decision to continue touring was the worst the band had ever made, damaging both their music and their reputation. [1]
In early 1999, Jimmy Chamberlin rejoined the band; however, the reunion was short-lived, as bassist D'arcy Wretzky announced her departure that September. [6] She was subsequently replaced by former Hole bassist, Melissa Auf der Maur, who performed on the “Sacred and Profane" tour and appeared in music videos. On May 23, 2000, in a live radio interview on KROQ-FM (Los Angeles), Billy Corgan announced the band's decision to break up at the end of that year following additional touring and recording. [7] The Smashing Pumpkins played at the Cabaret Metro on December 2, 2000, before a six-year disbandment.
On July 21, 2005, Corgan stated in full-page advertisements in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times to announce that he had planned to reunite the band. [8] On April 20, 2006, the band's official website confirmed the reunion. [9] Corgan and Chamberlin were verified as participants in the reunion, but there was question as to whether other former members of the band would participate. In April 2007, Iha and Auf der Maur separately confirmed that they were not taking part in the reunion. [10] [11] Wretzky did not make an announcement, but Chamberlin would later state that Iha and Wretzky "didn't want to be a part of" the reunion. [12] The Smashing Pumpkins performed live for the first time since 2000 on May 22, 2007, in Paris, France, with new members Jeff Schroeder on guitar and Ginger Reyes on bass guitar, as well as keyboardist Lisa Harriton. [13]
This line-up toured to promote the 2007 album Zeitgeist and performed again throughout 2008 to celebrate the band's 20th anniversary—this time, the instrumentation was augmented by No Doubt trumpeter Stephen Bradley and trombonist Gabrial McNair, Kristopher Pooley on accordion and keyboards, and Gingger Shankar playing the rare 10-string violin. In March 2009, Corgan announced on the band's website that longtime drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, had left the group; [14] Chamberlin stated that the split was amicable, commenting that he was "glad [Corgan] has chosen to continue under the name. It is his right." [15] Corgan later stated that he fired Chamberlin and began searching for his replacement. [16] In August 2009, Corgan confirmed on the band's website that drummer Mike Byrne had replaced Chamberlin after a series of open auditions. [17] Keyboardist Lisa Harriton quietly left the group in 2009. [18] In March 2010, bassist Ginger Reyes (now Ginger Pooley) officially left the band in order to focus on her family [18] and was briefly replaced by Mark Tulin of the Electric Prunes. In May 2010, Nicole Fiorentino was announced as the official replacement for Pooley. [19] However, she was later dismissed from the band in 2014, alongside Byrne. In 2015, Katie Cole joined in keyboards and guitar and Chamberlin rejoined the band once again on a touring basis, after Mötley Crüe's Tommy Lee played on Monuments to an Elegy and Brad Wilk toured with the band. [20] Fiorentino was replaced by The Killers bassist Mark Stoermer in touring capacity [20] and later by Peter Hook's son Jack Bates [21] and then by multi-instrumentalist Sierra Swan. In February 2018, Iha and Chamberlin officially rejoined for the Shiny And Oh So Bright Tour with Bates returning on bass as a touring member. On October 24, 2023, it was announced on the band's social media that Jeff Schroeder had decided to leave the band "to explore a slightly different path". [22]
Since 2023, the official lineup of the Smashing Pumpkins includes one vocalist/guitarist/bassist/keyboardist, one guitarist/bassist, and one drummer.
Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
---|---|---|---|---|
Billy Corgan |
|
| All of The Smashing Pumpkins' releases. | |
James Iha |
|
| All releases from Gish (1991) to Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music (2000) and Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. (2018) onward. | |
Jimmy Chamberlin |
|
| All of The Smashing Pumpkins' releases up to 1996, from 1999–2000, 2007 to 2009, and 2018 onward. | |
The following members accompanied the band in a live setting, while providing few, if any, studio contributions.
Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
---|---|---|---|---|
Katie Cole |
|
|
| |
Jack Bates [21] |
| bass | none |
The former members of the Smashing Pumpkins consist of two bassists, one bassist/keyboardist, one drummer and one guitarist/keyboardist.
Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
---|---|---|---|---|
D'arcy Wretzky | 1988–1999 |
| All of the Smashing Pumpkins' releases up to Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music (2000) | |
Melissa Auf der Maur | 1999–2000 |
| Bass guitar on the live track "Rock On" from the compilation disc Judas O | |
Jeff Schroeder | 2006–2023 |
| All of The Smashing Pumpkins' releases starting with If All Goes Wrong (2008) until Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts (2023). | |
Mike Byrne | 2009–2014 |
|
| |
Nicole Fiorentino | 2010–2014 |
|
| |
The following members accompanied the band in a live setting, while providing few, if any, studio contributions.
Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
---|---|---|---|---|
Eric Remschneider | 1992–1994 [24] [25] | cello |
| |
Jonathan Melvoin | 1995–1996 (his death) [26] | keyboards | The Aeroplane Flies High (1996) | |
Dennis Flemion | 1996–1997 (died 2012) [26] |
|
| |
Matt Walker | 1996–1997 [26] [27] |
| ||
Kenny Aronoff [28] | 1998 | none | ||
Stephen Hodges [29] | percussion | |||
Dan Morris [29] | 1998 (died 2007) | |||
Mike Garson | 1998–2000 [30] |
| ||
Chris Holmes | 2000 [31] |
| Live at Cabaret Metro 10-5-88 (2000) | |
Lisa Harriton | 2007–2009 [32] |
| American Gothic (2008) | |
Ginger Reyes | 2007–2010 [18] |
| ||
Stephen Bradley [33] | 2008 [34] |
| none | |
Gabrial McNair |
| |||
Kristopher Pooley |
| |||
Gingger Shankar | 10-string violin | |||
Mark Tulin | 2010 (died 2011) [36] | bass | Teargarden by Kaleidyscope (2009–2014) | |
Mark Stoermer | 2014–2015 [20] | none | ||
Brad Wilk | drums | |||
Sierra Swan [37] | 2016–2017 |
|
| |
The following musicians appeared on a Smashing Pumpkins album but were not part of the band.
Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mary Gaines | 1990–1991 | cello on "Daydream" | Gish (1991) | |
Chris Wagner | violin and viola on "Daydream" | |||
Mike Mills | 1992–1993 | piano on "Soma" | Siamese Dream (1993) | |
David Ragsdale | string arrangements and violin on "Disarm" and "Luna" | |||
Kerry Brown | 1994 |
| Pisces Iscariot (1994) | |
Chicago Symphony Orchestra | 1995 | orchestra in "Tonight, Tonight" | Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995) | |
Greg Leisz | pedal and lap steel guitar on "Take Me Down"' | |||
Jimmy Flemion |
|
|
| |
Bill Corgan Sr. | 1996 | guitar solo on "The Last Song" | The Aeroplane Flies High (1996) | |
Nina Gordon | vocals on "...Said Sadly" | |||
Keith Brown | piano | |||
Chris Martin | piano on "My Blue Heaven" | |||
Adam Schlesinger | piano on "The Bells" | |||
Matt Cameron | 1997–1998 | drums on "For Martha" | Adore (1998) | |
Joey Waronker |
| |||
Bon Harris |
| |||
Brad Wood |
| |||
Bjorn Thorsrud | 1998–1999 | programming | Machina/The Machines of God (2000) | |
Ysanne Spevack | 2010 |
| Teargarden by Kaleidyscope (2010) | |
Linda Strawberry | backing vocals | |||
Kevin Dippold | 2011 | Oceania (2012) | ||
Tommy Lee | 2014 |
| Monuments to an Elegy (2014) | |
Sstaria (Sheri Shaw) | backing vocals on "Anaise!" | |||
Daphne Chen – violin | 2018 | strings on "Knights of Malta" and "Alienation" | Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. (2018) | |
Eric Forman – violin | ||||
Richard Dodd – cello | ||||
Leah Katz – viola | ||||
Charissa Nielsen | additional background vocals on "Knights of Malta" | |||
Briana Lee | ||||
Missi Hale |
Period | Members | Studio releases |
---|---|---|
1988 |
| |
1988 |
| |
1988–1992 |
|
|
1992–1994 |
|
|
1995–1996 |
| |
1996–1997 |
|
|
1998 |
| |
1999 |
|
|
1999 |
|
|
1999–2000 |
| |
2000 |
| |
Band inactive from 2000 to 2005 | ||
2006 |
|
|
2007–2008 |
|
|
2008 |
| |
2009 |
| |
2009–2010 |
| |
2010–2014 |
|
|
2014 |
|
|
2014–2015 |
| |
2015 |
| |
2016–2017 |
| |
2017–2018 |
| |
2018–2023 |
| |
2023–present |
| |
The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band from Chicago, Illinois. Formed in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, bassist D'arcy Wretzky, guitarist James Iha, and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, the band has undergone several line-up changes since their reunion in 2006, with Corgan being the sole constant member since its inception. The current lineup features Corgan, Chamberlin, and Iha.
James Joseph Chamberlin is an American drummer and record producer. Described as "one of the most powerful drummers in rock," he is best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins. Following the 2000 breakup of the band, Chamberlin joined Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan in the supergroup Zwan and also formed his own group, the Jimmy Chamberlin Complex, of which he is still currently active. In late 2005, Chamberlin joined Corgan in reforming Smashing Pumpkins; he eventually left the group in March 2009, though he returned again in 2015 for a summer tour, and has officially performed with the band since then. Following guitarist Jeff Schroeder's departure in October 2023, Chamberlin is the band's second-longest serving member. He also performed in the group Skysaw until 2012 and joined Chicago jazz saxophonist Frank Catalano for a string of 2013–15 performances in the Chicago area. An EP by Catalano and Chamberlin Love Supreme Collective was released on July 29, 2014.
William Patrick Corgan Jr. is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the co-founder, lead singer, primary songwriter, guitarist, and only constant member of alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins. Corgan himself is credited with helping popularize the genre. He has also been the owner and promoter of the National Wrestling Alliance since 2017.
James Yoshinobu Iha is an American rock musician. He is best known as the secondary guitarist and co-founder of the alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins. He was a member until the band's initial breakup in 2000 and rejoined in 2018.
Lull is an EP by American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, released in 1991.
D'arcy Elizabeth Wretzky-Brown is an American musician. She was the original bassist of the alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins and is credited on their first six studio albums. She left the band in 1999. She has also been a member of Catherine and performed with Filter.
Earphoria is a live album by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. It is the soundtrack of the band's Vieuphoria video. While the video has been widely available since its initial release, the CD was initially released as a limited number of promo copies in 1994, and was subsequently heavily bootlegged. In 2002, Vieuphoria was reissued on DVD and Earphoria finally earned a commercial release.
Machina/The Machines of God is the fifth studio album by the American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, released on February 29, 2000, by Virgin Records. A concept album, it marked the return of drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and was intended to be the band's final official LP release prior to their initial break-up in 2000. A sequel album—Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music—was later released independently via the Internet, and in highly limited quantities for the physical version.
Adore is the fourth studio album by the American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, released on June 2, 1998, by Virgin Records. After the multi-platinum success of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and a subsequent world tour, Adore was considered "one of the most anticipated albums of 1998" by MTV. Recording the album proved to be a challenge as the band members struggled with lingering interpersonal problems, musical uncertainty in the wake of three increasingly successful rock albums, and the departure of drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. Frontman Billy Corgan would later characterize Adore as made by "a band falling apart". Corgan was also going through a divorce and the death of his mother while recording the album.
Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music is the sixth studio album by the American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. It was released for free on the Internet on September 5, 2000. Plans for a standard physical release, bundled with the first part Machina/The Machines of God, were revealed to happen sometime in 2013, but was postponed due to legal setbacks. In an Instagram Q&A in 2018, the band's frontman, Billy Corgan, revealed that all legal issues had been resolved. The two albums are planned to be remastered and released as a deluxe reissue; however, no release date has been announced.
"Today" is a song by American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, written by lead vocalist and guitarist Billy Corgan. The song, though seemingly upbeat, contains dark lyrics; Corgan wrote the song about a day in which he was having suicidal thoughts. The contrast between the grim subject matter of the song and the soft instrumental part during the verses, coupled with use of irony in the lyrics, left many listeners unaware of the song's tale of depression and desperation. The song alternates between quiet, dreamy verses and loud choruses with layered, distorted guitars.
Matt Walker is an American session musician, known for drumming with Filter, The Smashing Pumpkins and Morrissey, as well as being the regular fill-in to Butch Vig from Garbage on three of their tours.
"I Am One" is the debut single by American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins. It was the band's first ever release and remains the only single issued by the band with co-writing credits to both Billy Corgan and James Iha. It charted on the UK Singles Chart at a peak position of number 73.
Vieuphoria is a long form music video by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins, originally released on VHS on October 4, 1994, and DVD on November 26, 2002. It was certified gold by the RIAA in late 1996.
"Mayonaise" is a song by American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins. It was first made available in 1993 on the band's second studio album Siamese Dream as the ninth track. It is subsequently released as the album's fifth single on November 20, 2023 through Capitol Records as part of the Siamese Dream 30th Anniversary celebrations and shows. The song was produced by Butch Vig and Billy Corgan.
Zeitgeist is the seventh studio album by American rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, released on July 10, 2007 on Martha's Music and Reprise Records. Recorded solely by returning band members Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin, the album was the band's first since reuniting in 2006, and was produced by Roy Thomas Baker and Terry Date, alongside Corgan and Chamberlin themselves.
Jeffrey Kim Schroeder is an American musician. He is best known as a former guitarist in the alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, performing with them from 2007 to 2023. He recorded five studio albums with the band, from 2012's Oceania to 2022's Atum. After bandleader Billy Corgan, and longtime drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, Schroeder is the third-longest-serving member of the group.
"Solara" is a song by American rock band Smashing Pumpkins. It was the band's first song to be released after reforming three fourths of the band's original lineup in 2018, featuring Billy Corgan, James Iha, and Jimmy Chamberlin performing on a track together for the first time since 2000's Machina/The Machines of God album and subsequent non-album single "Untitled" prior to their original breakup. It was released as a single on June 8, 2018, as the first song from a set of two upcoming EPs that were set for release in 2018 before a full-length album titled Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. was announced in September. The song peaked at number 47 on the US Hot Rock Songs chart.
Shiny and Oh So Bright Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. is the tenth studio album by the American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins, released on November 16, 2018 through Napalm Records. Produced by Rick Rubin, it is the band's first album to feature founding members James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin since Machina II/The Friends and Enemies of Modern Music (2000) and Zeitgeist (2007), respectively.
The Shiny and Oh So Bright Tour was the Smashing Pumpkins' headlining reunion tour after Jimmy Chamberlin and James Iha formally rejoined the band in early 2018. Prior to the tour, there were some notable exchanges from frontman Billy Corgan and founding bassist D'arcy Wretzky over her absence from the reunited band. The tour was noted also for having a three-hour setlist with material solely from the band's first five albums, except for four covers and the 2018 single "Solara".