Smashing Pumpkins were formed in Chicago, Illionois in 1988 and caught steam in the late 80's and early 90's as an alternative rock group emerging on the scene. Their depressing and sad style would oddly enough take the rock n' roll world by storm leaving little to be desired in the category of fame and eventually fortune accrued by the group.

The Smashing Pumpkins

You give me a fucking kazoo and I'll write you a good song.

Smashing Pumpkins were formed in Chicago, Illionois in 1988 and caught steam in the late 80's and early 90's as an alternative rock group emerging on the scene. Their depressing and sad style would oddly enough take the rock n' roll world by storm leaving little to be desired in the category of fame and eventually fortune accrued by the group.

Start Me Up

Billy Corgan had long since desired to play rock n' roll and moved from his hometown of Chicago to Florida at the instruction of his first band where he played guitar for a band called The Marked. While in Florida, Corgan met up with another guitarist, James Iha, and the two began inducing psychedelic trips and playing music in the style of bands such as The Cure. Corgan met D'arcy Wretzky in 1988 and it just so happened D'arcy played bass, which was just what Corgan and his new friend Iha needed.

The group formed the band now known as The Smashing Pumpkins and had their first performance in July of 1988. The band was working without a drummer at this time met the drummer Jimmy Chamberlain, who would later be attributed as helping the band let their style flow. The band's first single release titled I Am One on the record label Limited Potential in 1990. With the success of I Am One, the band went on to release a number of other singles and would eventually gain the eye of the mainstream in the early 1990's.

Into the Light

The Smashing Pumpkins were slammed on to the scene in the early 1990's lumped in the same category of the grunge bands Pearl Jam and Nirvana although this was not their desire. With releases from these other bands, The Smashing Pumpkins new their next release must be strong. After hours in the studio, the band came out with the album Siamese Dream after many long hours of fighting with one another and internal problems.

The album would go on to sell over four million copies in just the United States and made the Billboard Hot 200 charts coming in at number ten. Although success came from many fans, others in the industry were more at odds with the Pumpkins' new success. The group was downplayed and insulted by groups such as Pavement, who referred to the group explicitly in one of their songs, and musician Steve Albini who also had negative comments concerning the band.

Smashing Hits

The group released their next great album in the year 1995 with their new album, which was a double release record, titled Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. The album would debut on the Billboard Hot 200 at number one in 1995, which was remarkably more successful than Siamese Dream. The album was said to be Corgan's contemporary version of The Wall by Pink Floyd, who were one of the many influences of Corgan.

The album gained recognition with many nominations, seven in total, in 1997 at the Grammy Awards but the band would win only one which was in the category Best Hard Rock Performance. This would go on to be the best selling rock n' roll album of the 1990's and still remains unconquered to this date. The band then pursued a tour in support of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.

Tragedy struck in 1996 not to the band, but to a fan when a concert being performed at The Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland went awry. The crowd became chaotic and out of control and would eventually lead to the trampling death of a young girl named Bernadette O'Brien.

Extended Leave

The group's desire to play rock n' roll became evident with their experimentation into the electronic music industry. The group would release a few compilation albums but nothing real until the song release The End is the Beginning is the End was debuted on the Batman and Robin soundtrack. The song would win them a Grammy Award in 1998 for Best Hard Rock Performance.

The band later came out with the album Adore, which did little as compared to their other albums but out of respect to their fans, the group embarked on a charity tour for the album and donated every bit of the ticket sales from that tour to local charities in the towns that they were playing. The band would eventually split up and briefly reunite in 2008. Over the time, there were releases of other "B" side singles and a few compilation albums to keep the band in the money although it looked as if they would never really come together and produce the music they did in the early 1990's, which is most were actually hoping.

Closing It Out

In 2009, Corgan made it know that Chamberlain was no longer with the group although there had been rumors of this lingering. However, Corgan affirmed his desire to continue writing for the group and announced that he would be releasing a new album Teargarden by Kaleidescope as a free music download one track at a time in October of 2009.

Did You Know

• The band played the first year of the summer music tour Lolapalooza.
• The group's music had been released over a total of four record labels.

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