Smashing Pumpkins

The Pumpkins concert tour in support of Adore was charity based. At each stop, the Pumpkins donated 100 percent of ticket sales to a local charity organization and paid all of their expenses out of their own pocket. They donated over 2.8 million dollars to various charities over the span of the tour. Machina, an album released in 2000, marked the pumpkins return to the more traditional rock sound of their past. Though the album debuted at number three in the charts, it was quickly forgotten in favor of more poppy sounding music. Corgan announced the band’s breakup on May 23, 2000. The final album before their breakup, Machina II/ The Friends and the Enemies of Modern Music, was released in September of 2000.

On June 21, 2005, Corgan announced a reunion of the Smashing Pumpkins, though only Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlain of the original line up participated in the reunion. On May 22, 2007, the band performed live for the first time since 2000. They revealed the new members of the band, Ginger Reyes, the bassist, Jeff Schroeder, the second bassist, and Lisa Harriton, a keyboardist. Zeitgiest, the latest Pumpkin’s album, was released in July of this year.

While the Pumpkins draw their influence from a variety of different sources, as diverse as Pantera is from Jimi Hendrix, the Pumpkins have been as influential to modern bands as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the same bands that escalated them to fame. My Chemical Romance founder and vocalist Gerard Way has said that he modeled his career on the Smashing Pumpkins. Members of Kill Hannah, an alt rock band formed in 1994, has listed the Pumpkins as influences, as have others such as Nelly Furtado and The Beautiful Disaster.

Because of their musical excellence, influence exerted over the years, and their continuously fresh and well executed music, the Smashing Pumpkins should receive a Grammy.