Smashing Pumpkins

One of the most well known and long running bands of the '90s alternative era, Smashing Pumpkins first came together when friends James Iha and Billy Corgan began playing psychedelic rock around the Chicago area with Corgan on vocals and bass, Iha on guitar, and a drum machine providing percussion. They soon brought on drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, whose jazz background added tremendous depth to the group's sound, as well as bassist D'arcy Wretzky, whose presence freed Corgan to bring in a second guitar. The group played their first show at Chicago's Cabaret Metro in 1988, and by 1991, they were signing to Caroline Records and releasing their first album, the acclaimed Gish. The indie release garnered major buzz and major label Virgin Records, eager to capitalize on the exploding alternative scene, signed the band the following year. Smashing Pumpkins released Siamese Dream in 1992 and the massively popular double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness in 1995, but during the band's tour in support of that album, Chamberlin and touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin overdosed on heroin, resulting in Melvoin's death and Chamberlain's arrest. Chamberlin was asked to leave the band, and they forged ahead with the electronic-driven Adore in 1998 and the stripped down Machina/The Machines of God in 1999, the latter of which saw the departure of Wretzky from the group. Smashing Pumpkins announced that they would disband following their tour in support of the record, but they would partially reunite in 2007 when Corgan and Chamberlin came together for the album Zeitgeist. By 2012's Oceana, Chamberlin departed again, leaving Corgan as the only original member of the band. He released Monuments to an Elegy with his own lineup in 2012 before reuniting with Chamberlin again on stage for 2016's "In Plainsong" tour.