The Smashing Pumpkins are a unique alt-rock band that formed in the late 1980s. While many other bands in the alt-rock scene were embracing a post-punk aesthetic, the Smashing Pumpkins, experimented with a diverse range of genres and maintained its status as a true “alternative” rock band.

During the early and mid-1990s, the band capitulated to the top of the charts with their second album Siamese Dream peaking at number ten on the Billboard 200 and 1995’s followup Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness reaching number one. Both are ranked on the Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

While considered an alt-rock band, the Smashing Pumpkins have experimented with a wide range of genres. Rising to fame during the tail-end of the grunge years, the band embraced a post-grunge sound that was entirely its own. The band shed the punk rock influences of bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam and created a sound that differed significantly from grunge acts like Alice in Chains despite its integration of heavy metal and hard rock elements.

Singles from Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness layered numerous and often distorted guitar tracks onto each other to generate a unique sound that differed from other alt-rock and grunge acts of the time. When the band released Adore in 1998, the band moved away from their previous sound, embracing a unique blend of electronic elements like synthesizers alongside acoustic guitar and piano. Over the years, the band has continued experimenting with many different genres and sounds.

Billy Corgan formed the Smashing Pumpkins in 1988 in Chicago. He and James Iha first performed using the name as a duo at a Polish bar in Chicago on July 9, 1988.

The Smashing Pumpkins formed in Chicago, Illinois.

Throughout the years, Billy Corgan has given various explanations about the origins and meaning of the band name. At one time, he said the name came from God. Later, Corgan said Gene Simmons visited him in a dream and told him that the lead singer of The Clash, Joe Stummer, was a drunk and smashed pumpkin, inspiring the band name. Another rumor has it that Corgan took the name from a British children's television program called The Story of Smashing Pumpkins. In perhaps the most reasonable version, a friend simply suggested the name to Corgan.

Wherever the name came from, we know Billy Corgan came up with it before he formed the band, and that he may be the only one who knows its true origins.

Billy Corgan founded the Smashing Pumpkins in 1988 with Jame Iha. During their first performance, Corgan played bass, Iha played guitar, and a drum machine provided percussion. Soon thereafter, D’arcy Wretzy joined as the band’s permanent bassist and Jimmy Chamberlein joined as drummer with Corgan acting as frontman, lead vocalist, songwriter, and primary composer and Iha remaining on guitar.

Several members of the Smashing Pumpkins embraced heavy drug usage during the 1990s. After overdosing on heroin in 1996, Jimmy Chamberlin was arrested for drug possession and fired from the band. He returned in 1999 for “The Arising” tour. In September, Wretzky left the band due to her own battle with drugs. Not long after, she was arrested for possession of crack cocaine. Corgan has also admitted to using drugs heavily when touring with the band throughout the ‘90s.

Wretzky left the Smashing Pumpkins during the recording of Machina/The Machines of God and was replaced by Mellisa Auf der Maur, formally of Hole. While the album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 chart, it was not enough to keep the band together. On May 23, 2000, Corgan announced that the band would be breaking up. The Smashing Pumpkins performed its final concert that December.

The Smashing Pumpkins reunited in 2006, releasing Zeitgeist the following year. The only two original members of the new line-up were Corgan and Chamberlin with Chamberlin leaving the band again in 2009.

Over the next several years, Corgan and new guitarist and keyboardist Jeff Schroeder would remain the only stable members of the Smashing Pumpkins with other members rotating in and out with regularity. Chamberlin returned again in 2015 followed by Iha in 2018, 18 years after the band’s initial break-up.

The jingling noise in the song "Crush" by Smashing Pumpkins is created by a percussion instrument called a vibraslap.

The Smashing Pumpkins has had 1,725 concerts.

The Smashing Pumpkins is most often considered to be Rock, Electronic, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock, Pop Rock, Alternative, Hard Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Progressive Rock, Alternative Metal, Art Rock, Nu Metal, Shoegaze, Dream Pop, Grunge, Permanent Wave, Symphonic Rock, Industrial Rock, Neo-Psychedelia, and Spacegrunge.

The next The Smashing Pumpkins concert is on June 07, 2024 at Utilita Arena Birmingham in Birmingham, England, United Kingdom. The bands performing are: The Smashing Pumpkins / Weezer / Teen Mortgage.

The last The Smashing Pumpkins concert was on October 26, 2023 at saginaw civic center.

The songs that The Smashing Pumpkins performs live vary, but here's the latest setlist that we have from the September 17, 2023 concert at Madame Zuzu's Teahouse in Highland Park, Illinois, United States:

1. Rocket
2. Cherub Rock
3. Today
4. Disarm
5. Spaceboy
6. Spaced
7. Mayonaise
8. Hummer
9. Luna
10. Purr Snickety