Billy Corgan Says ‘Things Look Good’ for a Reunion of the Smashing Pumpkins’ Original Lineup

2017 could be the year in which the original foursome of Smashing Pumpkins gets back together. In a new interview frontman Billy Corgan said that the band are discussing performing together for the first time since 1999.

Earlier this week, Corgan appeared on Chicago DJ Mancow Muller’s show on WLUP where he promoted his new “Thirty Days” project. While on the air, he disclosed that he had just spoken to guitarist James Iha the other day. “Things look good for us getting together to play. So, we’re talking about it. We’ll see.”

However, he made it clear that fans shouldn’t get their hopes up yet, even reflecting a degree of ambivalence about the idea. “There’s a willingness for us to play,” he continued, “but also the world’s changed a lot since we didn’t play. So the reunion thing is always a bit weird because people come in with their expectations. So my whole thing is if we’re gonna do it, I think we do it to make people happy and not go against the tide of what people would want to hear in that type of stuff, but my interest in it is sort of limited. I’m not gonna do it for like 14 years of my life.”

Talk of a reunion began last March when Iha sat in with the band in Los Angeles. Then, in August, Corgan revealed that he and bassist D’Arcy Wretzky, who left in 1999, had resumed their friendship. “It’s awesome to have my friend back,” he said, but quickly noting that “[w]e’re not rushing to something, we have to repair some things between us, and see what’s out there for us, if those opportunities are even there.” Original drummer Jimmy Chamberlain, who was fired in the aftermath of touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin’s 1996 death, has been on-and-off with the Pumpkins since returning in 1999, and has been back since 2015.

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