Smashing Pumpkins biography

They pressed, and sold out, two limited edition singles in 1990, 'I Am the One' (on the Limited Potential label) and 'Tristessa' (on Sub-Pop). They signed to Caroline, a subsid of Virgin, thereby managing to hang on to their Indie image and kudos and yet expose themselves to far greater sales potential - something of a nifty coup. Their debut album, 'Gish' (1991) was recorded in Wisconsin, and in order to save money and time (and, some might say, to keep control over the whole process) Corgan played almost all of the instrumental parts except the drums. Whatever the process, Corgan could argue that the means had been justified by the end result - the record was a major hit, and the band were soon touring the album, with slots opening for Jane's Addiction, Guns N' Roses and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

However, as is so often the fashion when on tour, pre-existing tensions within the group started to bubble up. As well as the underlying bad feeling surrounding Corgan's efforts in the studio, Iha and Wretzky, who had been in a relationship, underwent a thorny break-up. Not wishing to be left out of all the drama, Chamberlin had become addicted to alcohol and narcotics, and Corgan himself was suffering from depression, undergoing his own relationship problems and a case of writer's block. Blimey, that must have been a fun tour bus to be on...

Still, the band rumbled on, and by 1992 were back in the studio to record their second album. They had already gained some very useful exposure after their song 'Drown' was used on the soundtrack for Seattle-based smug-fest movie 'Singles', thereby securing not only more publicity but also forging a useful association with grunge and the Seattle scene, surely the flavour of the month at that time. Corgan stated publicly that after the stresses of touring, and also of making this second album, if it proved not to be a success he was ready to cut his losses and just dissolve the band all together. Luckily for him and the other three, 'Siamese Dream' (1993) proved to be their major breakthrough into the mainstream. Co-produced by Corgan and Butch Vig (who had also been behind the console for 'Gish'), the album went some way towards delivering on the promise shown on 'Gish', and sold four million copies, having debuted in the Billboard top ten - maybe that old maxim about great art resulting from tension and strife actually has some truth to it?

They were soon on the road again, headlining the 1994 Lollapalooza road-show, and achieving the kind of fame and MTV airplay that had their more 'authentically alternative' brethren sniping criticism in the press - for example, Bob Mould of Husker Du reportedly called them 'The grunge Monkees' - ooh, get her! Ignoring the slings and arrows, the Pumpkins were soon back in studio, working on a special extended length, everything-but-the kitchen-sink double disc album. 'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness' (1995), at over two hours in length, is probably best described as a challenging listen, if taken end-to-end. However, included in there are some fantastic singles, such as the achingly wistful '1979' or the anthemic rock piece, 'Tonight, Tonight'. Crucially, the album performed even better than 'Siamese Dream', reaching number one in the sales chart - indeed, when taken together, these two albums clearly put Smashing Pumpkins at the forefront, as one of the more creative acts of the mid-1990s rock scene.

With sell-out arenas on tour, and two July shows booked up at New York's Madison Square Garden in 1996, things took a negative turn once again. Jimmy Chamberlin overdosed in a hotel room, as well as their touring keyboard player, Jonathan Melvoin. Tragically, Melvoin died, and Chamberlin was arrested for drug possession. The drummer was swiftly fired from the band (which Corgan later conceded was a big mistake, damaging not only their sound but also their reputation). After a two month break, they replaced him with Matt Walker, formerly of Filter, for the remainder of the tour.

By February of 1997 the group were again dabbling in film soundtracks, this time providing two songs for Joel Schumacher's not-particularly-good comic-book movie, 'Batman and Robin'. However, their interest in playing traditional guitar based rock was waning, and even just after the release of Mellon Collie, Iha had gone on record saying that he believed electronic music to be the way forward. However, Iha's debut solo release, 1998's 'Let It Come Down', was a different departure from the Pumpkins sound, a selection of soft-shoe, largely acoustic rock songs. Months later, Smashing Pumpkins new record, 'Adore' (1998) hit the shelves, deploying more electronic influences, and relying on drum machines and studio session players to fill in for Chamberlin's absence - it only scored lukewarm success with critics and buyers.

A cleaned-up Chamberlin returned to the fold, and another, more traditionally rock-influenced album was recorded in early 2000, 'Machina/The Machines of God'. Just as the drummer had come back, the bassist was on her merry way - Wretzky was replaced by former Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur, and the group hit the road once more to promote the album. All in all, though, it appeared that Corgan was losing interest in the whole shooting match, and having announced that the Pumpkins were soon to be smashed once and for all, they embarked on a Sinatra-esque farewell tour in 2000. In December that year they played a huge four-hour final gig at their home-town Chicago venue 'Metro' (the place where they had originally played their debut performance back in the late 80s).

Why 'Sinatra-esque', you may ask? Well, it wasn't a proper goodbye, really. The band members all kept their hand in - before long, Iha was putting another group together with Auf der Mahr, and Corgan, fresh from having played guitar with New Order in the summer of 2001, set up his own new group, Zwan. Corgan also made the effort to bad-mouth former band-mates Iha and Wretzky in his online journal in 1994, in particular blaming the former for the break-up of the group.

However, in June 2005, to coincide with the release of his solo album 'TheFutureEmbrace', Corgan took out a full page advertisement in the Chicago Tribune newspaper, modestly entitled 'A Message to Chicago from Billy Corgan'. In it, he stated that he aimed to bring back the Smashing Pumpkins, as that was where his heart had always lain, and soon it was being reported that Corgan and Chamberlin, clearly the only two of the original line-up still talking to each other, had signed a management deal.

The first live performance by the Smashing Pumpkins in the best part of seven years took place in Paris, May 2007, a gig at which new members Jeff Schroeder (guitar) and Ginger Reyes (bass) were introduced. This was followed by a performance at the July 7th Live Earth concert in the US. And, as if to prove that some bands never go away, a new album, 'Zeitgeist' (2007) has been released, and what is effectively a franchised version of the group continues for now to ply its trade, albeit under the ever-watchful eye and dictatorial approach of their charismatic leader, Billy Corgan.

• Smashing Pumpkins Discography