The Smashing Pumpkins

Alt-rock icons The Smashing Pumpkins are recognized for their amalgam of progressive rock, heavy metal, goth, psychedelia, and dream pop; a layered, powerful style driven by swirling, distorted guitars that churned beneath lead singer/songwriter Billy Corgan’s angst-ridden lyrics.

One of the most visible bands of ’90s, alongside grunge acts like Nirvana and Pearl Jam, The Smashing Pumpkins achieved mainstream success over the decade with classic releases Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. After a foray into electronic rock on Adore, Corgan issued a final pair of efforts before putting the group to sleep for an extended early-2000s hiatus that ended with 2007’s Zeitgeist. Along with an ever-changing lineup, he continued to record under the Pumpkins moniker before reconvening most of the original lineup for a 2018 reunion tour and albums such as 2020’s synth-heavy Cyr and 2023’s Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts.