My Chemical Romance has covered Smashing Pumpkins’ 1995 rock radio staple “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” on a handful of occasions during its massive summer tour, but the rendition tonight (Aug. 29) at Chicago’s Soldier Field had extra bite. The group welcomed Pumpkins frontman and Windy City native Billy Corgan to guest on the tune, which […]
For decades, having a signature guitar was reserved for classic rock legends — the Claptons, the Hendrixes, the Pages, the SRVs and EVHs. But that’s no longer the case. From pop-punk to heavy metal, alt-country to neo-soul, modern artists of all genres and backgrounds are getting signature guitars from companies big and small. Among the […]
The lovefest between Billy Corgan and Perry Farrell continues. A handful of days after performing on Corgan’s livestream fundraiser for the victims of the July 4 shooting in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Farrell brought out the Smashing Pumpkins boss to cover “When the Levee Breaks” during Porno for Pyros’ Lollapalooza set. Joining Corgan […]
Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan hosted a virtual benefit concert last night (July 27) for victims of the deadly July 4 mass shooting in his home base of Highland Park, Ill., and took the opportunity to debut a new song, “Photograph,” directly inspired by the incident. Corgan said he got the idea after a local […]
The shooting in Highland Park, Illinois during a Fourth of July parade, which left seven people dead and 46 others wounded, became a tragedy that the entire nation felt. But for Billy Corgan and his partner, Chloé Mendel, it hit much closer to home — quite literally. “When you go through this, it’s like you don’t […]
This time last year, William Patrick Corgan said that he’d been working on a Christmas album for a few years that got “junked.” Now, it appears the Smashing Pumpkins singer/guitarist has taken some of those songs out of the proverbial trash. During the annual Christmas show at Madame ZuZu’s, his vegan tea shop in the […]
When William Patrick Corgan announced that he’d be performing four acoustic sets at Madame ZuZu’s Emporium — the tea shop he owns in Chicago — they were billed as “William Patrick Corgan Early Years 1985-1990.” For those who struggle with calendars, that means it’s all pre-Gish, and thus before the Billy Corgan that fans have […]
Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins took to Instagram today to announce the upcoming arrival of their newest live vinyl, Live at the Viper Room 1998. “The thing you hear in the Viper Room show is you’re really sort of being allowed into the studio where the songs don’t have the accouterment of all the […]
Three of the 100 are in this picture! The Rolling Stones, in 1964, from left to right: Bill Wyman, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Brian Jones. The problem with lists like this is they are invariably bullshit. So our prime objective was to make sure we didn’t do a bullshit list. I’m not saying we did a scientific one […]
This article was originally published in the December 1991 issue of SPIN. Smashing Pumpkins were one of our Artist of the Year runner-ups. In honor of Gish turning 30, we’re republishing this article. With its simultaneously childlike and ferocious debut album, gish (Caroline Records), the Chicago-based hard-soft psychedelia foursome Smashing Pumpkins exploded onto the 1991 indie-rock landscape with all […]