(left to right) Billy Corgan, D'arcy Wretzky, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin

(left to right) Ginger Reyes, Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin (Back) and Jeff Schroeder (Lisa Harriton not shown)

(left to right) Nicole Fiorentino, Mike Byrne (obscured), Billy Corgan, and Jeff Schroeder.

(left to right) Jeff Schroeder, Jack Bates, Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin, James Iha and Katie Cole

Four lineups of the Smashing Pumpkins performing in 1991, 2007, 2010 and 2018

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).

History

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]

Original drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was fired in 1996 and has been in and out of the band several times since.

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]

Drummer Mike Byrne and bassist Nicole Fiorentino joined the band in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

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]

Band members

Current members

Since 2023, the official lineup of the Smashing Pumpkins includes one vocalist/guitarist/bassist/keyboardist, one guitarist/bassist, and one drummer.

Current members of The Smashing Pumpkins

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
	Billy Corgan	1988–2000 2006–present	lead vocals guitars bass keyboards	All of The Smashing Pumpkins' releases.
	James Iha	1988–2000 2016 (guest) 2018–present [23]	guitars bass backing and occasional lead vocals	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	1988–1996 1999–2000 2006–2009 2015–2017 (touring only) 2018–present	drums percussion	All of The Smashing Pumpkins' releases up to 1996, from 1999–2000, 2007 to 2009, and 2018 onward.

Current touring members

The following members accompanied the band in a live setting, while providing few, if any, studio contributions.

Current touring musicians for The Smashing Pumpkins

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
	Katie Cole	2015 2016–present	keyboards guitar bass backing vocals various other instruments	Cyr (2020) Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts (2023)
	Jack Bates[21]	2015 2018–present	bass	none

Former members

The former members of the Smashing Pumpkins consist of two bassists, one bassist/keyboardist, one drummer and one guitarist/keyboardist.

Former members of The Smashing Pumpkins

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
	D'arcy Wretzky	1988–1999	bass backing and occasional lead vocals	All of the Smashing Pumpkins' releases up to Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music (2000)
	Melissa Auf der Maur	1999–2000	bass backing vocals	Bass guitar on the live track "Rock On" from the compilation disc Judas O
	Jeff Schroeder	2006–2023	guitars backing vocals keyboards	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	drums percussion backing vocals keyboards	Teargarden by Kaleidyscope  Vol. 1–2–3 (2009–2011) Oceania (2012), Oceania: Live in NYC (2013)
	Nicole Fiorentino	2010–2014	bass keyboards backing vocals	Teargarden by Kaleidyscope  Vol. 3 (2011) Oceania (2012), Oceania: Live in NYC (2013)

Former touring members

The following members accompanied the band in a live setting, while providing few, if any, studio contributions.

Former touring musicians with The Smashing Pumpkins

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
	Eric Remschneider	1992–1994[24][25]	cello	Siamese Dream (1993) Vieuphoria (1994) The Aeroplane Flies High (1996)
	Jonathan Melvoin	1995–1996 (his death)[26]	keyboards	The Aeroplane Flies High (1996)
	Dennis Flemion	1996–1997 (died 2012)[26]	keyboards backing vocals	The Aeroplane Flies High (1996) Adore (1998)
	Matt Walker	1996–1997[26][27]	drums percussion
	Kenny Aronoff[28]	1998		none
	Stephen Hodges[29]		percussion
	Dan Morris[29]	1998 (died 2007)
	Mike Garson	1998–2000[30]	piano keyboards	Machina/The Machines of God (2000) Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music (2000)
	Chris Holmes	2000[31]	keyboards vocoder	Live at Cabaret Metro 10-5-88 (2000)
	Lisa Harriton	2007–2009[32]	keyboards backing vocals	American Gothic (2008)
	Ginger Reyes	2007–2010[18]	bass backing vocals
	Stephen Bradley[33]	2008[34]	trumpet backing vocals [35]	none
	Gabrial McNair		trombone backing vocals [35]
	Kristopher Pooley		keyboards accordion backing vocals [35]
	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	bass keyboards backing vocals various other instruments	Cyr (2020) Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts (2023)

Studio and guest musicians

The following musicians appeared on a Smashing Pumpkins album but were not part of the band.

Musical collaborators with The Smashing Pumpkins

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	drums congas	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	1996 1997–1998	instruments additional vocals	The Aeroplane Flies High (1996) Adore (1998)
	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		drums on "Perfect" additional drums on "Once Upon a Time" and "Pug"
	Bon Harris		additional programming on tracks 2–5, 7–9 and 13 additional vocals in "For Martha"
	Brad Wood		additional vocals in "Behold! The Night Mare" organ in "Blank Page"
	Bjorn Thorsrud	1998–1999	programming	Machina/The Machines of God (2000)
	Ysanne Spevack	2010	violin viola	Teargarden by Kaleidyscope (2010)
	Linda Strawberry		backing vocals
	Kevin Dippold	2011		Oceania (2012)
	Tommy Lee	2014	drums percussion	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

Timeline

Line-ups

References

General

Specific