Smashing Pumpkins

The Smashing Pumpkins have been one of the most successful alternative rock groups of its time, selling well over 30 million records. Its music has ranged from goth-pop and classic rock-inspired heavy metal in the late 1980s, cutting edge hard rock and grandiose compositions in the mid-'90s, electronic-tinged music and dark nu metal in the late '90s, and back-to-basics hard rock and shoegazer/alt. rock in its new incarnation (as of 2006).
From 1988-2000, and 2006-present, singer/guitarist/songwriting genius Billy Corgan and powerhouse drummer Jimmy Chamberlin have defined the constantly evolving sound of the Smashing Pumpkins – ex guitarist James Iha and bassist D'arcy Wretzky were founding members who left for good in 2000 and 1999, respectively.

But selling records wasn't what the Pumpkins were or are about today – even if its latest CD Zeitgeist has gone gold. They were one of the first to give away a whole record for free in 2000, with the release of Machina II on the Internet. While making music, cutting edge art, and videos still makes the band popular the world over, fan sites and blogs such as spfc.org and thepumpkins.net catalog every release and feature band news. The group itself is more interactive than ever before via Myspace, LiveJournal, and its its official website.