Smashing Pumpkins consists of Billy Corgan (vocals, guitar), James Iha (guitarist , vocals), Jimmy Chamberlin (drums), Melissa Auf (bass, vocals).
The Smashing Pumpkins were an influential American alternative rock band which formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988.
Less influenced by punk than many of their contemporaries, the Pumpkins had a densely layered and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, grunge, heavy metal, power pop, psychedelic rock, shoegazer-style production and, in later recordings, electronica. The emotional tone of bandleader Billy Corgan’s songs ranged from angry (“ Bullet with Butterfly Wings”) to dour (“ Disarm”) to jubilant (“ Cherub Rock”).
Selling more than 18 million albums in the United States alone, the Smashing Pumpkins were one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands of the 1990s, but internal fighting, diminishing sales, and cultural vitality hampered the band in their later years, leading to a 2000 break-up. Recently, Corgan has announced a desire to reform the band.
The Smashing Pumpkins were originally Billy Corgan (guitar and vocals), James Iha (guitar), D'arcy Wretzky (bass) and Jimmy Chamberlin (drums). However, Melissa Auf der Maur replaced Wretzky in the final year ( Dec. 1999 to Dec. 2000) of the band. The band also dealt with several replacement drummers through 1997 - 1998 including Matt Walker and Kenny Aronoff.
At the age of 19, singer and guitarist Billy Corgan left his native Chicago, Illinois, moving to St. Petersburg, Florida with his goth band The Marked, so called because of the birth marks on his and his drummer's hands. The band had limited success and quickly dissolved. Corgan returned to Chicago, taking a job in a record store. There, he met guitarist James Iha. They began writing songs with the aid of a drum machine. In 1988, Corgan met bassist D'arcy Wretzky during an argument at another band's gig in Chicago; Wretzky would join the band shortly after. Wretzky and Iha would eventually have a short-lived personal relationship. They played their first gig as a trio at a Polish bar. Jazz drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was brought in to the band after Cabaret Metro owner Joe Shanahan agreed to book the Pumpkins to open for Jane's Addiction, provided they threw out the drum machine and recruited a human drummer instead.