The Smashing Pumpkins

The Smashing Pumpkins earned recognition as alt-rock standard-bearers through their distinctive fusion of progressive rock, heavy metal, goth, psychedelia, and dream pop. Their dense, forceful approach rests on layers of swirling, distorted guitars that underpin the tormented songwriting and vocals of frontman Billy Corgan. Emerging as one of the decade’s most prominent acts alongside grunge outfits such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the group secured broad commercial success in the 1990s via signature albums Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Following an excursion into electronic rock on Adore, Corgan delivered two additional projects before suspending the band for a prolonged early-2000s hiatus that concluded with Zeitgeist in 2007. Retaining the Pumpkins identity through repeated roster changes, he kept releasing material until reassembling most of the founding lineup for a 2018 reunion tour and subsequent albums, among them the synth-oriented Cyr in 2020, Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts in 2023, and Aghori Mhori Mei in 2024.

Born to a jazz guitarist father, William Patrick Corgan spent his formative years in a Chicago suburb before departing home at 19 to relocate to Florida with his nascent goth metal outfit, the Marked. When that band dissolved in the South, he returned to Chicago near the end of 1988 and took a job at a used-record store. There he encountered guitarist James Iha, then a graphic arts student at Loyola University, and the pair began writing, performing, and tracking material together with a drum machine. Corgan later met bassist D’Arcy Wretzky at a club performance; after debating the merits of the Dan Reed Network, the two formed a friendship that led to her joining the group. Having adopted the name the Smashing Pumpkins, the musicians quickly built a loyal local audience that included a club owner who booked them to support Jane’s Addiction. Ahead of that key show, they recruited former jazz musician Jimmy Chamberlin as their permanent drummer.

The Smashing Pumpkins issued their first single, “I Am One,” in 1990 on the Chicago-based Limited Potential label. Rapid sell-outs prompted a follow-up, “Tristessa,” on Sub Pop that December. By then the band had become the focus of intense major-label interest, prompting a calculated move that preserved indie credibility while securing wider distribution. They signed with Virgin Records yet arranged for their debut to appear first on the Virgin subsidiary Caroline before transitioning fully to the parent label. The approach proved effective: Gish, a sweeping blend of Black Sabbath and dream pop produced by Butch Vig, emerged as a major college and modern-rock success after its spring 1991 release. An extended tour supporting Gish stretched more than a year and featured support slots for Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam. Throughout those dates, internal strains intensified as former couple Iha and Wretzky navigated a difficult split, Chamberlin struggled with drug and alcohol dependence, and Corgan battled deep depression—tensions that remained unresolved when the group reconvened with Vig to track their sophomore effort.

Early in those sessions, the Pumpkins gained wider visibility when “Drown” appeared on the Singles soundtrack in summer 1992. As work continued, Corgan countered his depression through intense productivity, writing an abundance of material and performing nearly all guitar and bass parts himself; the process repeatedly postponed completion. The finished album, Siamese Dream, arrived in July 1993 as a polished production that critics praised and that became the band’s first major commercial breakthrough, entering the charts at number ten and establishing them as stars. Lead single “Cherub Rock” registered as a modern-rock hit, yet “Today” and the acoustic “Disarm” propelled the record to greater heights. The Smashing Pumpkins headlined Lollapalooza 1994, and after the tour the band returned to the studio for what Corgan had already described as a double-disc project. To bridge the gap, they released the B-sides and rarities collection Pisces Iscariot in October 1994.

Collaborating with producers Flood and Alan Moulder, the Smashing Pumpkins tracked their third album as a complete unit. The resulting double-disc set, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, debuted at number one and surpassed Siamese Dream commercially, moving more than four million copies in the United States and earning platinum certification more than eight times over. Powered by singles “Bullet with Butterfly Wings,” “1979,” “Zero,” and “Tonight, Tonight,” the record elevated the group to stadium headliner status. At the height of their popularity, however, circumstances deteriorated. On July 12, before two Madison Square Garden performances, touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin died of a heroin overdose while in the company of Chamberlin, who himself survived an overdose. In the aftermath, the remaining members dismissed Chamberlin and paused for two months to regroup and seek a replacement. Early in August they announced that Filter’s Matt Walker would serve as touring drummer and the Frogs’ Dennis Flemion as touring keyboardist for the balance of the year. The band resumed live activity at the end of August and remained on the road for the next five months.

That spring the Smashing Pumpkins contributed “The End Is the Beginning Is the End,” which won a Grammy, to the Batman & Robin soundtrack and “Eye” to Lost Highway. The latter track foreshadowed the electronic turn of their next album. Released a few months later amid the death of Corgan’s mother and his own divorce, Adore adopted a subdued electronic palette. Though it topped charts abroad and reached number two on the Billboard 200, sales and reviews fell short of expectations, leaving many observers puzzled by the stylistic shift. The band toured, donating all proceeds to charity, then returned to the studio.

Before their fifth album appeared, Chamberlin rejoined and Wretzky departed, with Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur taking her place. Returning to their early rock foundation, MACHINA: The Machines of God arrived in early 2000, peaking at number three and yielding singles “Stand Inside Your Love” and “The Everlasting Gaze.” During promotion, Corgan declared plans to disband the group after a farewell tour. Fans received a final collection when the band completed leftover tracks from the MACHINA sessions. Virgin Records declined to issue the 25-track set so soon after the previous album, prompting the group to release the project, officially titled Machina II: The Friends and Enemies of Modern Music, as a free Internet download. On December 2, 2000, the Pumpkins performed a large-scale concert at Chicago’s Metro—the same venue where they had played their first show in 1988—billed as a definitive farewell that instead marked the beginning of an extended hiatus.

During the break, former members quickly pursued new endeavors. Corgan joined New Order for select dates in summer 2001 and later formed Zwan, which included Chamberlin along with former Chavez guitarist Matt Sweeney and bassist David “Skullfisher” Pajo; he also published a book of poetry. Iha and Auf der Maur assembled an alt-rock supergroup called the Virgins, while Iha performed with A Perfect Circle. Two retrospective compilations appeared as a double-disc/DVD package, both titled Greatest Hits (also known as Rotten Apples). Corgan issued his debut solo album, The Future Embrace, in 2005 and, on its release date, placed a full-page advertisement in the Chicago Tribune announcing the Smashing Pumpkins’ reunion—without prior notice to his former bandmates. Only Chamberlin participated; the resulting Zeitgeist, issued on Reprise Records in 2007, reached number two yet continued the band’s late-period decline in sales and critical regard. The refreshed lineup, featuring guitarist Jeff Schroeder, bassist Ginger Reyes, and keyboardist Lisa Harriton, mounted a successful international tour despite mixed responses to the album.

Corgan and Chamberlin released the EP American Gothic at the start of 2008. Shortly afterward, Corgan announced that the group would cease making full-length albums in favor of singles only. Chamberlin exited once more in March 2009, leaving Corgan alongside Schroeder, bassist Nicole Fiorentino, and drummer Mike Byrne. Once the roster stabilized, Corgan honored his pledge by issuing the single “A Song for a Son” in December 2009. Additional tracks from the Teargarden by Kaleidyscope conceptual series appeared as free downloads over the following two years, with physical editions collected in the 2010 EP box sets Songs for a Sailor and The Solstice Bare.

In 2012 Corgan paused the single-focused project to release Oceania, the Smashing Pumpkins’ official eighth studio album. A live counterpart, Oceania: Live in NYC, followed the next year. In 2014 he revealed plans to issue two albums the subsequent year under a new BMG agreement that would conclude the Teargarden arc; the records were to be titled Monuments to an Elegy and Day for Night. By then Fiorentino and Byrne had left, and drums on Monuments to an Elegy were performed by Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee. Monuments appeared December 9, 2014, and debuted in the Billboard 200 Top 40, marking the band’s lowest-charting album since their debut. Chamberlin rejoined for a 2015 tour, though Day for Night did not materialize as scheduled.

Early in 2016, Iha performed with Corgan and Chamberlin in Los Angeles—their first joint appearance in nearly two decades. Additional live dates followed, culminating in a reunion of the original lineup (excluding Wretzky) for the 2018 Shiny and Oh So Bright Tour, which included bassist Jack Bates, son of Peter Hook. To accompany the summer trek, the Pumpkins released “Solara,” the lead single from Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1/LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun., produced by Rick Rubin and issued in November 2018.

Iha and Chamberlin also participated in the band’s eleventh studio album, 2020’s Cyr. Recorded by Corgan in Chicago with longtime guitarist Schroeder, the double LP featured tracks including “Cyr” and “The Colour of Love.” Released in November 2020, it reached number ten on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums chart and coincided with the five-part animated sci-fi series In Ashes.

The single “Beguiled” appeared in September 2022 as the first preview of 2023’s Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts. Serving as the Pumpkins’ twelfth studio album and third concept record, Atum acted as a spiritual successor to both 1995’s Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and 2000’s MACHINA: The Machines of God. Also in 2023, Schroeder departed, with guitarist Kiki Wong assuming his touring role. Aghori Mhori Mei, the first album since Schroeder’s exit and the fourth to feature the reunited lineup of Corgan, Iha, and Chamberlin, arrived in July 2024.