The Smashing Pumpkins played in Korea for the first time on July 4, 2000. We hope this will not be the last time. Below is a video of the Pumpkins performing "1979" at Olympic Park Stadium in Seoul:
The Smashing Pumpkins are Back!
With approximately 18.3 million records sold in the US alone as of 2006, the Smashing Pumpkins were one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful groups of the ‘90s. In spring 2006, the band officially confirmed its reunion. Returning members Jimmy Chamberlin and Billy Corgan were joined by new additions Jeff Schroeder (guitar and vocals), Ginger Reyes (bass and vocals) and Lisa Harriton (keyboard and vocals) in 2007 to tour behind their new release, ‘Zeitgeist’.
The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band. While the group has gone through several lineup changes, they consisted of Billy Corgan, James Iha, D’arcy Wretzky and Jimmy Chamberlin for most of the band’s recording career. Disavowing the punk rock roots shared by many of their alt-rock contemporaries, the Pumpkins have a diverse, densely layered and guitar-ladened sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic, progressive rock and electronica.
The beginning
Billy Corgan, at the age of 19, moved from Chicago to Florida with his gothic rock band ‘The Marked’. He saw no success and returned to his native land. While working in a record store there, he met James Iha and they started writing imaginative but often dark songs together. Corgan met D’arcy Wretzky at a concert in 1988. Upon discovering Wretzky was a bass player, Corgan informed D’arcy that his outfit needed a bassist and Wretzky joined the band. The Smashing Pumpkins debuted on July 9, 1988 and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin joined them.
The Smashing Pumpkins did really well for sometime and reached the peak of success before they became plagued with difficulties and fell apart. Things got good for the Pumpkins again as grunge emerged in the music industry in the form of bands like Pearl Jam and Nirvana. It was once again time for the band to reclaim its top position. This continued till 2000, when the band officially broke up.
Hit records
Although there are many, many records and individual songs that have put the Smashing Pumpkins in the limelight time and again, some which deserve a special mention are - ‘Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness’ which debuted 1 on the Billboard charts, ‘Machina/The Machines of God’ which debuted 3 on the Billboard charts and a special edition album ‘Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music’ (only 25 copies were cut out and hand distributed).
