title: Tim Cook

text: On October 29, 2012, Cook made major changes to the company's executive team. Scott Forstall resigned as senior vice president of iOS, and became an advisor to Cook until he eventually departed from the company in 2013. John Browett, who was senior VP of retail, was dismissed six months after he commenced at Apple, when he received 100,000 shares worth US$60 million. Forstall's duties were divided among four other Apple executives: design SVP Jony Ive assumed leadership of Apple's human interface team; Craig Federighi became the new head of iOS software engineering; services chief Eddy Cue became responsible for Maps and Siri; and Bob Mansfield, previously SVP of hardware engineering, became the head of a new technology group.


title: Tim Cook

text: Cook made the executive changes after the third quarter of the fiscal year, when revenues and profits grew less than predicted. Forstall's resignation was widely seen as a dismissal, allegedly caused by Cook's desire to reduce "rivalries between executives"; and drew criticism, as Forstall had been seen as a possible successor to Cook. On February 28, 2014, Cook made headlines when he challenged shareholders to "get out of the stock" if they did not share the company's views on sustainability and climate change. In May 2016, Cook traveled to China to meet with government officials there after the closure of Apple's online iTunes Store and Apple Books store by the Chinese government.


title: Tim Cook

text: In 2016 some analysts compared Cook to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, claiming that innovation had died down since he replaced Jobs, similar to when Ballmer became Microsoft CEO in 2000. In December 2017, Cook was a speaker at the World Internet Conference in China.


title: Tim Cook

text: Cook was appointed chairman of the advisory board for Tsinghua University's economics school in October 2019 for a three-year term.


title: Tim Cook

text: Rep. Tom Malinowski, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and several other lawmakers criticized Cook over Apple's decision to remove an app used by pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong from its App Store. They accused Apple of censorship and co-signed a letter to Cook that read, "Apple's decisions last week to accommodate the Chinese government by taking down HKMaps is deeply concerning. We urge you in the strongest terms to reverse course, to demonstrate that Apple puts values above market access, and to stand with the brave men and women fighting for basic rights and dignity in Hong Kong." Cook explained in an internal letter why the company removed Hong Kong mapping app used by protesters to coordinate movements. In 2016, Cook signed a $275 billion deal with Chinese officials. The deal - personally negotiated by Cook - paved the way for increased censorship by Apple in China, for example the removal of Muslim content, preventing users from entering numbers that refer to the date of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, censoring Chinese words like "human rights" or "democracy", and manipulating Apple Maps to support China in the Senkaku Islands dispute by making Chinese-claimed islands appear larger than they actually are.


title: Tim Cook

text: In August 2021, Cook received an approximate $750m payout, selling more than five million shares in Apple, after marking ten years in the job.


title: Tim Cook

text: Alongside Google Vice President Vint Cerf and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, Cook attended a summit held by President Barack Obama on August 8, 2013, in regard to government surveillance and the Internet in the wake of the Edward Snowden NSA incident.


title: Tim Cook

text: Following the December 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, in which 14 people were killed by Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, the Federal Bureau of Investigation solicited Apple to assist in "unlock[ing]" an iPhone 5C used by Farook. On February 16, 2016, in response to a request by the Department of Justice, a federal magistrate judge ordered Apple to create a custom iOS firmware version that would allow investigators to circumvent the phone's security features. Cook responded in an open letter, wherein he denounced the government's demands as constituting a "breach of privacy" with "chilling" consequences.


title: Tim Cook

text: As Apple Inc. CEO, Cook regularly begins sending emails at 4:30 am each weekday and in the past held Sunday-night staff meetings by telephone to prepare for the next week. Cook shared in May 2013 that his leadership focused on people, strategy, and execution; he explained, "If you get those three right the world is a great place." Under Cook's leadership, Apple has increased its donations to charity, and in 2013, he hired Lisa Jackson, formerly the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, to assist Apple with the development of its renewable energy activities. Since becoming CEO, Cook has replaced Steve Jobs's micromanagement with a more hands-off style, and implemented a more collaborative culture at Apple.


title: Tim Cook

text: While it had been reported in early 2011 that Cook was gay, at the time, and prior to his Oct. 2014 public statement, Cook chose to keep his personal life private. He did publicly support LGBT rights. In October 2014, the Alabama Academy of Honor inducted Cook, who spoke about his home state's record of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights. The Academy of Honor is the highest honor Alabama gives its citizens.


title: Tim Cook

text: In 2015, Cook said he donated to Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Patrick Leahy for their stances on eBook pricing and surveillance reform, respectively. During the same election cycle, he hosted a fundraiser for Republican Senator Rob Portman.


title: Tim Cook

text: In early March 2016, Cook disclosed that he donated to the election campaign of Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California. In early June, Cook hosted a private fundraiser along with then Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan. The event was described by "Politico" as "a joint fundraising committee aimed at helping to elect other House Republicans".


title: Tim Cook

text: In the 2016 election, Cook raised funds for the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton. At one point, Clinton's campaign considered Cook as a candidate for Vice President.


title: Tim Cook

text: In September 2017 at Bloomberg's Global Business Forum, Cook defended the DACA immigration program. He expressed his dissatisfaction with the direction of Donald Trump's administration, stating: "This is unacceptable. This is not who we are as a country. I am personally shocked that there is even a discussion of this."


title: Tim Cook

text: In 2018, at a privacy conference in Brussels, Cook expressed his opinions on the stockpiling of personal data by tech firms, suggesting that it amounted to surveillance and should make the public "very uncomfortable."


title: Tim Cook

text: In a meeting for the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board with President Donald Trump in March 2019, Trump referred to Cook as "Tim Apple". Cook leaned into the slip-up by changing his display name on Twitter to Tim Apple while Trump denied that he had said it.


title: Tim Cook

text: Cook is a fitness enthusiast and enjoys hiking, cycling, and going to the gym. He is known for being solitary, using an off-campus fitness center for privacy, and little is publicly shared about his personal life. He explained in October 2014 that he has sought to achieve a "basic level of privacy".


title: Tim Cook

text: Cook was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1996, an incident he said made him "see the world in a different way". He has since taken part in charity fundraising, such as cycle races to raise money for the disease. He later told the Auburn alumni magazine that his symptoms came from "lugging a lot of incredibly heavy luggage around".


title: Tim Cook

text: Cook has said that in 2009 he offered a portion of his liver to Jobs, as they shared a rare blood type. Cook said that Jobs responded by yelling, "I'll never let you do that. I'll never do that."


title: Tim Cook

text: While delivering the 2010 commencement speech at Auburn, Cook emphasized the importance of intuition during significant decision-making processes, and explained that preparation and hard work are also necessary to execute on intuition.


title: Tim Cook

text: In June 2014, Cook attended San Francisco's gay pride parade along with a delegation of Apple staff. On October 30, Cook publicly came out as gay in an editorial for "Bloomberg Business", saying, "I'm proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me." He consulted with Anderson Cooper, who had publicly come out himself, on aspects of the statement, and cleared the timing to ensure it would not distract from business interests. Cook had been open about his sexuality "for years", and while many people at the company were aware of his sexual orientation, he sought to focus on Apple's products and customers rather than his personal life. He ended his op-ed by writing, "We pave the sunlit path toward justice together, brick by brick. This is my brick." Cook became the first and only openly gay CEO on the "Fortune" 500 list. In September 2015, Cook clarified on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," "Where I valued my privacy significantly, I felt that I was valuing it too far above what I could do for other people, so I wanted to tell everyone my truth." In October 2019, he talked about the decision and remarked on how it was thanks to LGBTQ people who had fought for their rights before him that paved the way for his success, and that he needed to let younger generations know that—in a coding analogy—he saw being gay as a feature his life had to offer rather than any problem. He hoped his openness could help LGBTQ youth dealing with homelessness and suicide hope that their situation could get better.


title: Tim Cook

text: In 2021, Cook appeared on the "Time" 100, "Time"s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim; 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim Il-sung, the first Supreme Leader, until his own death in 2011, when he was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong-un.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: In the early 1980s, Kim had become the heir apparent for the leadership of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and assumed important posts in the party and army organs. Kim succeeded his father and DPRK founder Kim Il-sung, following the elder Kim's death in 1994. Kim was the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), WPK Presidium, Chairman of the National Defence Commission (NDC) of North Korea and the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army (KPA), the fourth-largest standing army in the world.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Kim ruled North Korea as a repressive and totalitarian dictatorship. Kim assumed leadership during a period of catastrophic economic crisis amidst the dissolution of the Soviet Union, on which it was heavily dependent for trade in food and other supplies, which brought a famine. While the famine had ended by the late 1990s, food scarcity continued to be a problem throughout his tenure. Kim strengthened the role of the military by his "Songun" ("military-first") policies, making the army the central organizer of civil society. Kim's rule also saw tentative economic reforms, including the opening of the Kaesong Industrial Park in 2003. In April 2009, North Korea's constitution was amended to refer to him and his successors as the "supreme leader of the DPRK".


title: Kim Jong-il

text: The most common colloquial title given to Kim was "Dear Leader" to distinguish him from his father Kim Il-sung, the "Great Leader". Following Kim's failure to appear at important public events in 2008, foreign observers assumed that Kim had either fallen seriously ill or died. On 19 December 2011, the North Korean government announced that he had died two days earlier, whereupon his third son, Kim Jong-un, was promoted to a senior position in the ruling WPK and succeeded him. After his death, Kim was designated the "Eternal General Secretary" of the WPK and the "Eternal Chairman of the National Defence Commission", in keeping with the tradition of establishing eternal posts for the dead members of the Kim family.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Soviet records show that Kim Jong-il was born Yuri Irsenovich Kim (). In literature, it is assumed that he was born in 1941 in either the camp of Vyatskoye, near Khabarovsk, or camp Voroshilov near Nikolsk. According to Lim Jae-cheon, Kim cannot have been born in Vyatskoye as Kim Il-sung's war records show that he arrived at Vyatskoye only in July 1942 and had been living in Voroshilov before, thus Kim Jong-il is generally agreed to have been born in Voroshilov. Kim's mother, Kim Jong-suk, was Kim Il-sung's first wife. Inside his family, he was nicknamed "Yura", while his younger brother Kim Man-il (born Alexander Irsenovich Kim) was nicknamed "Shura".


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Kim's official biography states he was born in a secret military camp on Paektu Mountain (; "Baekdusan Miryeong Gohyang jip") in Chōsen on 16 February 1942. According to one comrade of Kim's mother, Lee Min, word of Kim's birth first reached an army camp in Vyatskoye via radio and that both Kim and his mother did not return there until the following year. Reports indicate that his mother died in childbirth in 1949.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: In 1945, Kim was four years old when World War II ended and Korea regained independence from Japan. His father returned to Pyongyang that September, and in late November Kim returned to Korea via a Soviet ship, landing at Sonbong. The family moved into a former Japanese officer's mansion in Pyongyang, with a garden and pool. Kim's brother drowned there in 1948.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: According to his official biography, Kim completed the course of general education between September 1950 and August 1960. He attended Primary School No. 4 and Middle School No. 1 (Namsan Higher Middle School) in Pyongyang. This is contested by foreign academics, who believe he is more likely to have received his early education in the People's Republic of China as a precaution to ensure his safety during the Korean War.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Throughout his schooling, Kim was involved in politics. He was active in the Korean Children's Union and the Democratic Youth League of North Korea (DYL), taking part in study groups of Marxist political theory and other literature. In September 1957, he became vice-chairman of his middle school's DYL branch (the chairman had to be a teacher). He pursued a programme of anti-factionalism and attempted to encourage greater ideological education among his classmates.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Kim is also said to have received English language education in Malta in the early 1970s on his infrequent holidays there as a guest of Prime Minister Dom Mintoff.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: The elder Kim had meanwhile remarried and had another son, Kim Pyong-il. Since 1988, Kim Pyong-il has served in a series of North Korean embassies in Europe and was the North Korean ambassador to Poland. Foreign commentators suspect that Kim Pyong-il was sent to these distant posts by his father in order to avoid a power struggle between his two sons.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Kim Jong-il officially joined the Workers' Party of Korea in July 1961. He rose up the ranks during the 1960s, and benefited greatly from the Kapsan Faction Incident around March 1967, which was the last credible challenge to Kim Il-sung's rule. This incident marked the first time Kim Jong-il was – at age 26 – given official duties by his father, when the younger Kim took part in the investigation and purges that followed the incident.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: In addition, Kim Jong-il gave a speech at the plenum; it was his first as a figure of authority. Kim Jong-il's name was also mentioned in public documents, possibly for the first time, indicating that Kim Il-sung might have already planned for the younger to succeed him as leader.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Only six months after, in an unscheduled meeting of the party, Kim Il-sung called for loyalty in the film industry that had betrayed him with "An Act of Sincerity". Kim Jong-il himself announced that he was up to the task and thus begun his influential career in North Korean film-making, during which he made significant efforts to further intensify the personality cult of his father and attach himself to it.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: In 1973, Kim Jong-il was appointed to the WPK Central Committee. But during the early 1970s, Kim's uncle, Kim Yong-ju, was still widely believed to be Kim Il-sung's eventual successor. At that time, he held top positions in the Central People’s Committee and the SPA Presidium. However, at the same time Kim Jong-il's power was growing, and a power struggle erupted.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: At the time, the WPK was heavily focusing ideologically on Kim Il-sung's "Juche"; while Kim Jong-il actively stood for this process, Kim Yong-ju, having studied in the Soviet Union, supported a more classical view of Marxism and was not fond of the extensive personality cult built around his brother.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: This played to Kim Jong-il's advantage: Kim Yong-ju was more and more marginalized, his key allies Kim To-man (director of propaganda) and Pak Yong-guk (director of international liaison) were removed, and he himself was finally attacked by Kim Il-sung. After a Central Committee plenum in February 1974, Kim Yong-ju was demoted to Vice-Premier. And according to Kim Jong-il's official biography, the Central Committee already anointed him as successor to Kim Il-sung.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: By the time of the Sixth Party Congress in October 1980, Kim's control of the Party operation was complete. He was given senior posts in the Presidium, the Military Commission and the party Secretariat. When he was made a member of the Seventh Supreme People's Assembly in February 1982, international observers deemed him the heir apparent of North Korea. Prior to 1980, he had no public profile and was referred to only as the "Party Centre". At this time Kim assumed the title "Dear Leader" (), and the government began building a personality cult around him patterned after that of his father, the "Great Leader". Kim was regularly hailed by the media as the "fearless leader" and "the great successor to the revolutionary cause". He emerged as the most powerful figure behind his father in North Korea.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: By the 1980s, North Korea began to experience severe economic stagnation. Kim Il-sung's policy of "Juche" (self-reliance) cut the country off from almost all external trade, even with its traditional partners, the Soviet Union and China. South Korea accused Kim of ordering the 1983 bombing in Rangoon, Burma which killed 17 visiting South Korean officials, including four cabinet members, and another in 1987 which killed all 115 onboard Korean Air Flight 858. A North Korean agent, Kim Hyon-hui, confessed to planting a bomb in the case of the second, saying the operation was ordered by Kim personally.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: On 24 December 1991, Kim was also named Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army. Defence Minister Oh Jin-wu, one of Kim Il-sung's most loyal subordinates, engineered Kim's acceptance by the Army as the next leader of North Korea, despite his lack of military service. The only other possible leadership candidate, Prime Minister Kim Il (no relation), was removed from his posts in 1976. In 1992, Kim Il-sung publicly stated that his son was in charge of all internal affairs in the Democratic People's Republic.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: In 1992, radio broadcasts started referring to him as the "Dear Father", instead of the "Dear Leader", suggesting a promotion. His 50th birthday in February was the occasion for massive celebrations, exceeded only by those for the 80th birthday of Kim Il-sung himself on 15 April that same year.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: In 1992, Kim made his first public speech during a military parade for the KPA's 60th anniversary and said: "Glory to the officers and soldiers of the heroic Korean People's Army!". These words were followed by a loud applause by the crowd at Pyongyang's Kim Il-sung Square where the parade was held.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Kim was named Chairman of the National Defence Commission on 9 April 1993, making him day-to-day commander of the armed forces.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: According to defector Hwang Jang-yop, the North Korean government system became even more centralized and autocratic during the 1980s and 1990s under Kim than it had been under his father. In one example explained by Hwang, although Kim Il-sung required his ministers to be loyal to him, he nonetheless and frequently sought their advice during decision-making. In contrast, Kim Jong-il demanded absolute obedience and agreement from his ministers and party officials with no advice or compromise, and he viewed any slight deviation from his thinking as a sign of disloyalty. According to Hwang, Kim Jong-il personally directed even minor details of state affairs, such as the size of houses for party secretaries and the delivery of gifts to his subordinates.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: On 8 July 1994, Kim Il-sung died at the age of 82 from a heart attack. Kim Jong-il had been his father's designated successor as early as 1974, named commander-in-chief in 1991, and became Supreme Leader upon his father's death.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: He officially took over his father's old post as General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea on 8 October 1997. In 1998, he was re-elected as chairman of the National Defence Commission, and a constitutional amendment declared that post to be "the highest post of the state." Also in 1998, the Supreme People's Assembly wrote the president's post out of the constitution and designated Kim Il-sung as the country's "Eternal President" in order to honor his memory forever.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Officially, Kim was part of a triumvirate heading the executive branch of the North Korean government along with Premier Choe Yong-rim and parliament chairman Kim Yong-nam (no relation). Kim commanded the armed forces, Choe Yong-rim headed the government and handled domestic affairs and Kim Yong-nam handled foreign relations. However, in practice, Kim, like his father before him, exercised absolute control over the government and the country. Although not required to stand for popular election to his key offices, he was unanimously elected to the Supreme People's Assembly every five years, representing a military constituency, due to his concurrent capacities as supreme commander of the KPA and chairman of the NDC.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Kim had a "reputation for being almost comically incompetent in matters of economic management". The economy of North Korea struggled throughout the 1990s, primarily due to mismanagement. In addition, North Korea experienced severe floods in the mid-1990s, exacerbated by poor land management. This, compounded with the fact that only 18% of North Korea is arable land and the country's inability to import the goods necessary to sustain industry, led to a severe famine and left North Korea economically devastated. Faced with a country in decay, Kim adopted a "Military-First" policy to strengthen the country and reinforce the regime. On the national scale, the Japanese Foreign Ministry acknowledges that this has resulted in a positive growth rate for the country since 1996, with the implementation of "landmark socialist-type market economic practices" in 2002, keeping the North afloat despite a continued dependency on foreign aid for food.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: In the wake of the devastation of the 1990s, the government began formally approving some activity of small-scale bartering and trade. As observed by Daniel Sneider, associate director for research at the Stanford University Asia–Pacific Research Center, this flirtation with capitalism was "fairly limited, butespecially compared to the pastthere are now remarkable markets that create the semblance of a free market system".


title: Kim Jong-il

text: In 2002, Kim declared that "money should be capable of measuring the worth of all commodities." These gestures toward economic reform mirror similar actions taken by China's Deng Xiaoping in the late 1980s and early 90s. During a rare visit in 2006, Kim expressed admiration for China's rapid economic progress.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: An unsuccessful devaluation of the North Korean won in 2009, initiated or approved by Kim personally, caused brief economic chaos and uncovered the vulnerability of the country's societal fabric in the face of crisis.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Kim was known as a skilled and manipulative diplomat. In 1998, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung implemented the "Sunshine Policy" to improve North-South relations and to allow South Korean companies to start projects in the North. Kim announced plans to import and develop new technologies to develop North Korea's fledgling software industry. As a result of the new policy, the Kaesong Industrial Park was constructed in 2003 just north of the de-militarized zone.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: In 1994, North Korea and the United States signed an Agreed Framework which was designed to freeze and eventually dismantle the North's nuclear weapons program in exchange for aid in producing two power-generating nuclear reactors and the assurance that it would not be invaded again. In 2000, after a meeting with Madeleine Albright, he agreed to a moratorium on missile construction. In 2002, Kim's government admitted to having produced nuclear weapons since the 1994 agreement. Kim's regime argued the secret production was necessary for security purposesciting the presence of United States-owned nuclear weapons in South Korea and the new tensions with the United States under President George W. Bush. On 9 October 2006, North Korea's Korean Central News Agency announced that it had successfully conducted an underground nuclear test.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Kim was the focus of an elaborate personality cult inherited from his father and founder of the DPRK, Kim Il-sung. Kim Jong-il was often the centre of attention throughout ordinary life in the DPRK. On his 60th birthday (based on his official date of birth), mass celebrations occurred throughout the country on the occasion of his Hwangap. In 2010, the North Korean media reported that Kim's distinctive clothing had set worldwide fashion trends.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: The prevailing point of view is that the people's adherence to Kim's cult of personality was solely out of respect for Kim Il-sung or out of fear of punishment for failure to pay homage. Media and government sources from outside North Korea generally support this view, while North Korean government sources aver that it was genuine hero worship. The song "No Motherland Without You", sung by the KPA State Merited Choir, was created especially for Kim in 1992 and is frequently broadcast on the radio and from loudspeakers on the streets of Pyongyang.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: According to a 2004 Human Rights Watch report, the North Korean government under Kim was "among the world's most repressive governments", having up to 200,000 political prisoners according to U.S. and South Korean officials, with no freedom of the press or religion, political opposition or equal education: "Virtually every aspect of political, social, and economic life is controlled by the government."


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Kim's government was accused of "crimes against humanity" for its alleged culpability in creating and prolonging the 1990s famine. Human Rights Watch characterized him as a dictator and accused him of human rights violations. Amnesty International condemned him for leaving 'millions of North Koreans mired in poverty' and detaining hundreds of thousands of people in prison camps.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Kim Jong-il claimed that the barometer for distinguishing whether a person can be deemed a member of North Korean society and hence entitled to rights 'lies not on the grounds of his social class but on the grounds of his ideology'.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: In an August 2008 issue of the Japanese newsweekly "Shūkan Gendai", Waseda University professor Toshimitsu Shigemura, an authority on the Korean Peninsula, claimed that Kim died of diabetes in late 2003 and had been replaced in public appearances by one or more stand-ins previously employed to protect him from assassination attempts. In a subsequent best-selling book, "The True Character of Kim Jong-il", Shigemura cited apparently unnamed people close to Kim's family along with Japanese and South Korean intelligence sources, claiming they confirmed Kim's diabetes took a turn for the worse early in 2000 and from then until his supposed death three and a half years later he was using a wheelchair. Shigemura moreover claimed a voiceprint analysis of Kim speaking in 2004 did not match a known earlier recording. It was also noted that Kim did not appear in public for the Olympic torch relay in Pyongyang on 28 April 2008. The question had reportedly "baffled foreign intelligence agencies for years".


title: Kim Jong-il

text: On 9 September 2008, various sources reported that after he did not show up that day for a military parade celebrating North Korea's 60th anniversary, United States intelligence agencies believed Kim might be "gravely ill" after having suffered a stroke. He had last been seen in public a month earlier.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: A former CIA official said earlier reports of a health crisis were likely accurate. North Korean media remained silent on the issue. An Associated Press report said analysts believed Kim had been supporting moderates in the foreign ministry, while North Korea's powerful military was against so-called "Six-Party" negotiations with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the United States aimed towards ridding North Korea of nuclear weapons. Some United States officials noted that soon after rumours about Kim's health were publicized a month before, North Korea had taken a "tougher line in nuclear negotiations". In late August North Korea's official news agency reported the government would "consider soon a step to restore the nuclear facilities in Nyongbyon to their original state as strongly requested by its relevant institutions". Analysts said this meant "the military may have taken the upper hand and that Kim might no longer be wielding absolute authority". By 10 September, there were conflicting reports. Unidentified South Korean government officials said Kim had undergone surgery after suffering a minor stroke and had apparently "intended to attend 9 September event in the afternoon but decided not to because of the aftermath of the surgery". High-ranking North Korean official Kim Yong-nam said, "While we wanted to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the country with general secretary Kim Jong-Il, we celebrated on our own". Song Il-Ho, North Korea's ambassador said, "We see such reports as not only worthless, but rather as a conspiracy plot". Seoul's "Chosun Ilbo" newspaper reported that "the South Korean embassy in Beijing had received an intelligence report that Kim collapsed on 22 August". "The New York Times" reported on 9 September that Kim was "very ill and most likely suffered a stroke a few weeks ago, but United States intelligence authorities do not think his death is imminent". The BBC noted that the North Korean government denied these reports, stating that Kim's health problems were "not serious enough to threaten his life", although they did confirm that he had suffered a stroke on 15 August.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Japan's Kyodo News agency reported on 14 September, that "Kim collapsed on 14 August due to stroke or a cerebral hemorrhage, and that Beijing dispatched five military doctors at the request of Pyongyang. Kim will require a long period of rest and rehabilitation before he fully recovers and has complete command of his limbs again, as with typical stroke victims". Japan's "Mainichi Shimbun" claimed Kim had occasionally lost consciousness since April. Japan's "Tokyo Shimbun" on 15 September, added that Kim was staying at the Bongwha State Guest House. He was apparently conscious "but he needs some time to recuperate from the recent stroke, with some parts of his hands and feet paralyzed". It cited Chinese sources which claimed that one cause for the stroke could have been stress brought about by the United States delay to remove North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: On 19 October, North Korea reportedly ordered its diplomats to stay near their embassies to await "an important message", according to Japan's "Yomiuri Shimbun", setting off renewed speculation about the health of the ailing leader.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: By 29 October 2008, reports stated Kim suffered a serious setback and had been taken back to the hospital. "The New York Times" reported that Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, on 28 October 2008, stated in a parliamentary session that Kim had been hospitalized: "His condition is not so good. However, I don't think he is totally incapable of making decisions". Aso further said a French neurosurgeon was aboard a plane for Beijing, en route to North Korea. Further, Kim Sung-ho, director of South Korea's National Intelligence Service, told lawmakers in a closed parliamentary session in Seoul that "Kim appeared to be recovering quickly enough to start performing his daily duties". "The Dong-a Ilbo" newspaper reported "a serious problem" with Kim's health. Japan's Fuji Television network reported that Kim's eldest son, Kim Jong-nam, traveled to Paris to hire a neurosurgeon for his father, and showed footage where the surgeon boarded flight CA121 bound for Pyongyang from Beijing on 24 October. The French weekly "Le Point" identified him as Francois-Xavier Roux, neurosurgery director of Paris' Sainte-Anne Hospital, but Roux himself stated he was in Beijing for several days and not North Korea. On 19 December 2011, Roux confirmed that Kim suffered a debilitating stroke in 2008 and was treated by himself and other French doctors at Pyongyang's Red Cross Hospital. Roux said Kim suffered few lasting effects.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: On 5 November 2008, the North's Korean Central News Agency published 2 photos showing Kim posing with dozens of Korean People's Army (KPA) soldiers on a visit to military Unit 2200 and sub-unit of Unit 534. Shown with his usual bouffant hairstyle, with his trademark sunglasses and a white winter parka, Kim stood in front of trees with autumn foliage and a red-and-white banner. "The Times" questioned the authenticity of at least one of these photos.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: In November 2008, Japan's TBS TV network reported that Kim had suffered a second stroke in October, which "affected the movement of his left arm and leg and also his ability to speak". However, South Korea's intelligence agency rejected this report.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: In response to the rumors regarding Kim's health and supposed loss of power, in April 2009, North Korea released a video showing Kim visiting factories and other places around the country between November and December 2008. In 2010, documents released by WikiLeaks purportedly attested that Kim suffered from epilepsy.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Kim's three sons and his brother-in-law, along with O Kuk-ryol, an army general, had been noted as possible successors, but the North Korean government had for a time been wholly silent on this matter.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Kim Yong Hyun, a political expert at the Institute for North Korean Studies at Seoul's Dongguk University, said in 2007: "Even the North Korean establishment would not advocate a continuation of the family dynasty at this point". Kim's eldest son Kim Jong-nam was earlier believed to be the designated heir but he appeared to have fallen out of favor after being arrested at Narita International Airport near Tokyo in 2001 where he was caught attempting to enter Japan on a fake passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: On 2 June 2009, it was reported that Kim's youngest son, Kim Jong-un, was to be North Korea's next leader. Like his father and grandfather, he has also been given an official sobriquet, The Brilliant Comrade. Prior to his death, it had been reported that Kim was expected to officially designate the son as his successor in 2012.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: On 9 April 2009, Kim was re-elected as chairman of the National Defence Commission and made an appearance at the Supreme People's Assembly. This was the first time Kim was seen in public since August 2008. He was unanimously re-elected and given a standing ovation.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Kim reportedly visited the People's Republic of China in May 2010. He entered the country via his personal train on 3 May and stayed in a hotel in Dalian. In May 2010, Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell told South Korean officials that Kim had only three years to live, according to medical information that had been compiled. Kim travelled to China again in August 2010, this time with his son, fueling speculation at the time that he was ready to hand over power to his son, Kim Jong-un.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: He returned to China again in May 2011, marking the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between China and the DPRK. In late August 2011, he traveled by train to the Russian Far East to meet with President Dmitry Medvedev for unspecified talks.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: There were speculations that the visits of Kim abroad in 2010 and 2011 were a sign of his improving health and a possible slowdown in succession might follow. After the visit to Russia, Kim appeared in a military parade in Pyongyang on 9 September, accompanied by Kim Jong-un.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: It was reported that Kim had died of a suspected heart attack on 17 December 2011 at 8:30am while travelling by train to an area outside Pyongyang. He was succeeded by his youngest son Kim Jong-un, who was hailed by the Korean Central News Agency as the "Great Successor". According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), during his death a fierce snowstorm "paused" and "the sky glowed red above the sacred Mount Paektu" and the ice on a famous lake also cracked so loud that it seemed to "shake the Heavens and the Earth".


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Kim's funeral took place on 28 December in Pyongyang, with a mourning period lasting until the following day. South Korea's military was immediately put on alert after the announcement and its National Security Council convened for an emergency meeting, out of concern that political jockeying in North Korea could destabilise the region. Asian stock markets fell soon after the announcement, due to similar concerns.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: On 12 January 2012, North Korea called Kim the "eternal leader" and announced that his body would be preserved and displayed at Pyongyang's Kumsusan Memorial Palace. Officials also announced plans to install statues, portraits, and "towers to his immortality" across the country. His birthday of 16 February was declared "the greatest auspicious holiday of the nation" and was named the Day of the Shining Star.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: In February 2012, on what would have been his 71st birthday, Kim was posthumously made Dae Wonsu (usually translated as "Generalissimo", literally Grand Marshal), the nation's top military rank. He had been named Wonsu (Marshal) in 1992 when North Korean founder Kim Il-sung was promoted to Dae Wonsu. Also in February 2012, the North Korean government created the Order of Kim Jong-il in his honor and awarded it to 132 individuals for services in building a "thriving socialist nation" and for increasing defense capabilities.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: There is no official information available about Kim Jong-il's marital history, but he is believed to have been officially married twice and to have had three mistresses. He had three known sons: Kim Jong-nam, Kim Jong-chul and Kim Jong-un. His two known daughters are Kim Sol-song and Kim Yo-jong.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Kim's first wife, Hong Il-chon, was the daughter of a martyr who died during the Korean War. She was handpicked by his father and married to him in 1966. They have a girl called Kim Hye-kyung, who was born in 1968. Soon afterwards, they divorced in 1969.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Kim's first mistress, Song Hye-rim, was a star of North Korean films. She was already married to another man and with a child when they met. Kim is reported to have forced her husband to divorce her. This relationship, which started in 1970, was not officially recognized. They had one son, Kim Jong-nam (1971–2017), who was Kim Jong-il's eldest son. Kim kept both the relationship and the child a secret (even from his father) until he ascended to power in 1994. However, after years of estrangement, Song is believed to have died in Moscow in the Central Clinical Hospital in 2002.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Kim's official wife, Kim Young-sook, was the daughter of a high-ranking military official. His father Kim Il-Sung handpicked her to marry his son. The two were estranged for some years before Kim's death. Kim had a daughter from this marriage, Kim Sol-song (born 1974).


title: Kim Jong-il

text: His second mistress, Ko Yong-hui, was a Japanese-born ethnic Korean and a dancer. She had taken over the role of First Lady until her deathreportedly of cancerin 2004. They had two sons, Kim Jong-chul (in 1981) and Kim Jong-un, also "Jong Woon" or "Jong Woong" (in 1983). They also had a daughter, Kim Yo-jong, who was about 23 years old in 2012.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: After Ko's death, Kim lived with Kim Ok, his third mistress, who had served as his personal secretary since the 1980s. She "virtually act[ed] as North Korea's first lady" and frequently accompanied Kim on his visits to military bases and in meetings with visiting foreign dignitaries. She traveled with Kim on a secretive trip to China in January 2006, where she was received by Chinese officials as Kim's wife.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: According to Michael Breen, author of the book "Kim Jong Il: North Korea's Dear Leader", the women intimately linked to Kim never acquired any power or influence of consequence. As he explains, their roles were limited to that of romance and domesticity.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: He had a younger sister, Kim Kyong-hui. She was married to Jang Sung-taek, who was executed in December 2013 in Pyongyang, after being falsely charged with treason and corruption.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Like his father, Kim had a fear of flying and always travelled by private armored train for state visits to Russia and China. The BBC reported that Konstantin Pulikovsky, a Russian emissary who travelled with Kim across Russia by train, told reporters that Kim had live lobsters air-lifted to the train every day and ate them with silver chopsticks.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Kim was said to be a huge film fan, owning a collection of more than 20,000 video tapes and DVDs. His reported favourite movie franchises included "James Bond", "Friday the 13th", "Rambo", "Godzilla", "Otoko wa Tsurai yo" and Hong Kong action cinema, with Sean Connery and Elizabeth Taylor his favourite male and female actors. Kim was also said to have been a fan of Ealing comedies, inspired by their emphasis on team spirit and a mobilised proletariat. He authored "On the Art of the Cinema". In 1978, on Kim's orders South Korean film director Shin Sang-ok and his actress wife Choi Eun-hee were kidnapped in order to build a North Korean film industry. In 2006, he was involved in the production of the Juche-based movie "The Schoolgirl's Diary", which depicted the life of a young girl whose parents are scientists, with a KCNA news report stating that Kim "improved its script and guided its production".


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Although Kim enjoyed many foreign forms of entertainment, according to former bodyguard Lee Young Kuk, he refused to consume any food or drink not produced in North Korea, with the exception of wine from France. His former chef Kenji Fujimoto, however, has stated that Kim sometimes sent him around the world to purchase a variety of foreign delicacies.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Kim reportedly enjoyed basketball. Former United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright ended her summit with Kim by presenting him with a basketball signed by NBA legend Michael Jordan. His official biography also claims that Kim composed six operas and enjoyed staging elaborate musicals.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: United States Special Envoy for the Korean Peace Talks, Charles Kartman, who was involved in the 2000 Madeleine Albright summit with Kim, characterised Kim as a reasonable man in negotiations, to the point, but with a sense of humor and personally attentive to the people he was hosting. However, psychological evaluations conclude that Kim's antisocial features, such as his fearlessness in the face of sanctions and punishment, served to make negotiations extraordinarily difficult.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: The field of psychology has long been fascinated with the personality assessment of dictators, a notion that resulted in an extensive personality evaluation of Kim. The report, compiled by Frederick L. Coolidge and Daniel L. Segal (with the assistance of a South Korean psychiatrist considered an expert on Kim's behavior), concluded that the "big six" group of personality disorders shared by dictators Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Saddam Hussein (sadistic, paranoid, antisocial, narcissistic, schizoid and schizotypal) were also shared by Kimcoinciding primarily with the profile of Saddam Hussein.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: The evaluation found that Kim appeared to pride himself on North Korea's independence, despite the extreme hardships it appears to place on the North Korean peoplean attribute appearing to emanate from his antisocial personality pattern.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Defectors claimed that Kim had 17 different palaces and residences all over North Korea, including a private resort near Baekdu Mountain, a seaside lodge in the city of Wonsan, and Ryongsong Residence, a palace complex northeast of Pyongyang surrounded with multiple fence lines, bunkers and anti-aircraft batteries.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: According to a 2010 report in the "Sunday Telegraph", Kim had US$4billion on deposit in European banks in case he ever needed to flee North Korea. The "Sunday Telegraph" reported that most of the money was in banks in Luxembourg.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: Kim received numerous titles during his rule. In April 2009, North Korea's constitution was amended to refer to him and his successors as the "supreme leader of the DPRK".


title: Kim Jong-il

text: According to North Korean sources, Kim published some 890 works during a period of his career from June 1964 to June 1994. According to KCNA, the number of works from 1964 to 2001 was 550. In 2000, it was reported that the Workers' Party of Korea Publishing House has published at least 120 works by Kim. In 2009, KCNA put the numbers as follows:


title: Kim Jong-il

text: The "Selected Works of Kim Jong-il (Enlarged Edition)", whose publishing has continued posthumously, runs into volume 24 in Korean and to volume 15 in English. Volumes three to eight were never published in English.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: The "Complete Collection of Kim Jong-il's Works" is currently in volume 13. There is a "Kim Jong-il's Works Exhibition House" dedicated to his works in North Korea, holding 1,100 of his works and manuscripts.


title: Kim Jong-il

text: In his teens and university years, Kim had written poems. He also wrote song lyrics. His first major literary work was "On the Art of the Cinema" in 1973.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: The Smashing Pumpkins (also referred to as simply Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, bassist D'arcy Wretzky, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, the band has undergone several line-up changes since their reunion in 2006, with Corgan being the sole constant member since its inception. The current lineup features Corgan, Chamberlin, Iha and guitarist Jeff Schroeder.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: Disavowing the punk rock roots of many of their contemporaries, they have a diverse, densely-layered sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegaze, and electronica in later recordings. Corgan is the group's primary composer; his musical versatility and cathartic lyrics have shaped the band's distinctive albums, which one writer described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land". With 30 million albums sold worldwide, the Smashing Pumpkins were one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands of the 1990s, often cited as an important act in the popularization of alternative rock music. However, internal conflicts, drug use, and diminishing sales led to a break-up in 2000.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: In 2006, Corgan and Chamberlin reconvened to record a new Smashing Pumpkins album, "Zeitgeist". After touring throughout 2007 and 2008 with a lineup including new guitarist Jeff Schroeder, Chamberlin left the band in early 2009. Later that year, Corgan began a new recording series with a rotating lineup of musicians entitled "Teargarden by Kaleidyscope", which encompassed stand-alone singles, EP releases, and two full albums that also fell under the project's scope—"Oceania" in 2012 and "Monuments to an Elegy" in 2014. Chamberlin and Iha officially rejoined the band in February 2018. The reunited lineup released the album "" (2018), "Cyr" (2020) and is scheduled to release "" in three increments across 2022 and 2023.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: After the breakup of his gothic rock band The Marked, singer and guitarist Billy Corgan left St. Petersburg, Florida, to return to his native city of Chicago, where he took a job in a record store and formed the idea of a new band to be called the Smashing Pumpkins. While working there, he met guitarist James Iha. Adorning themselves with paisley and other psychedelic trappings, the two began writing songs together (with the aid of a drum machine) that were heavily influenced by the Cure and New Order. The duo performed live for the first time on July 9, 1988, at the Polish bar Chicago 21. This performance included only Corgan on bass and Iha on guitar with a drum machine. Shortly thereafter, Corgan met D'arcy Wretzky after a show by the Dan Reed Network where they argued the merits of the band. After finding out Wretzky played bass guitar, Corgan recruited her into the lineup, and the trio played a show at the Avalon Nightclub. After this show, Cabaret Metro owner Joe Shanahan agreed to book the band on the condition that they replace the drum


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: Jazz drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was recommended by a friend of Corgan's. Chamberlin knew little of alternative music and immediately changed the sound of the nascent band. As Corgan recalled of the period, "We were completely into the sad-rock, Cure kind of thing. It took about two or three practices before I realized that the power in his playing was something that enabled us to rock harder than we could ever have imagined." On October 5, 1988, the complete band took the stage for the first time at the Cabaret Metro.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: In 1989, the Smashing Pumpkins made their first appearance on record with the compilation album "Light Into Dark", which featured several Chicago alternative bands. The group released its first single, "I Am One", in 1990 on local Chicago label Limited Potential. The single sold out and they released a follow-up, "Tristessa", on Sub Pop, after which they signed to Caroline Records. The band recorded their 1991 debut studio album "Gish" with producer Butch Vig at his Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin for $20,000. In order to gain the consistency he desired, Corgan often played all instruments excluding drums, which created tension in the band. The music fused heavy metal guitars, psychedelia, and dream pop, garnering them comparisons to Jane's Addiction. "Gish" became a minor success, with the single "Rhinoceros" receiving some airplay on modern rock radio. After releasing the "Lull" EP in October 1991 on Caroline Records, the band formally signed with Virgin Records, which was affiliated with Caroline. The band supported the album with a tour that included opening for bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane's Addiction, and Guns N' Roses. During the tour, Iha and Wretzky went through a messy breakup, Chamberlin became addicted to narcotics and alcohol, and Corgan entered a deep depression, writing some songs for the upcoming album in the parking garage where he lived at the time.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: With the breakthrough of alternative rock into the American mainstream due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success. At this time, the Smashing Pumpkins were routinely lumped in with the grunge movement, with Corgan protesting, "We've graduated now from 'the next Jane's Addiction' to 'the next Nirvana', now we're 'the next Pearl Jam'."


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: Amid this environment of intense internal pressure for the band to break through to widespread popularity, the band relocated to Marietta, Georgia in late 1992 to begin work on their second album, with Butch Vig returning as producer. The decision to record so far away from their hometown was motivated partly by the band's desire to avoid friends and distractions during the recording, but largely as a desperate attempt to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections. The recording environment for "Siamese Dream" was quickly marred by discord within the band. As was the case with "Gish", Corgan and Vig decided that Corgan should play nearly all of the guitar and bass parts on the album, contributing to an air of resentment. The contemporary music press began to portray Corgan as a tyrant. Corgan's depression, meanwhile, had deepened to the point where he contemplated suicide, and he compensated by practically living in the studio. Meanwhile, Chamberlin quickly managed to find new connections and was often absent without any contact for days at a time. In all, it took over four months to complete the record, with the budget exceeding $250,000.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: Despite all the problems in its recording, "Siamese Dream" debuted at number ten on the "Billboard" 200 chart, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone. Alongside the band's mounting mainstream recognition, the band's reputation as careerists among their former peers in the independent music community was worsened. Indie rock band Pavement's 1994 song "Range Life" directly mocks the band in its lyrics, although Stephen Malkmus, lead singer of Pavement, has stated, "I never dissed their music. I just dissed their status." Former Hüsker Dü frontman Bob Mould called them "the grunge Monkees", and fellow Chicago musician/producer Steve Albini wrote a scathing letter in response to an article praising the band, derisively comparing them to REO Speedwagon ("by, of and for the mainstream") and concluding their ultimate insignificance. Fred Armisen said the band simply "flew past us" in the 90s Chicago music scene after his own band Trenchmouth had produced five albums. The opening track and lead single of "Siamese Dream", "Cherub Rock", directly addresses Corgan's feud with the "indie-world".


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: In 1994 Virgin released the B-sides/rarities compilation "Pisces Iscariot" which charted higher than "Siamese Dream" by reaching number four on the "Billboard" 200. Also released was a VHS cassette titled "Vieuphoria" featuring a mix of live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. Following relentless touring to support the recordings, including headline slots on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour and at Reading Festival in 1995, the band took time off to write the follow-up album.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: During 1995, Corgan wrote about 56 songs, following which the band went into the studio with producers Flood and Alan Moulder to work on what Corgan described as ""The Wall" for Generation X", and which became "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness", a double album of twenty-eight songs, lasting over two hours (the vinyl version of the album contained three records, two extra songs, and an alternate track listing). The songs were intended to hang together conceptually as a symbol of the cycle of life and death. Praised by "Time" as "the group's most ambitious and accomplished work yet", "Mellon Collie" debuted at number one on the "Billboard" 200 in October 1995. Even more successful than "Siamese Dream", it was certified ten times platinum in the United States and became the best-selling double album of the decade. It also garnered seven 1997 Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year. The band won only the Best Hard Rock Performance award, for the album's lead single "Bullet with Butterfly Wings". The album spawned five singles—"Bullet with Butterfly Wings", "1979", "Zero", "Tonight, Tonight" which Corgan stated was inspired by the Cheap Trick song "I'll Be with You Tonight", and "Thirty-Three"—of which the first three were certified gold and all but "Zero" entered the Top 40. Many of the songs that did not make it onto "Mellon Collie" were released as B-sides to the singles, and were later compiled in "The Aeroplane Flies High" box set. The set was originally limited to 200,000 copies, but more were produced to meet demand.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: In 1996 the Pumpkins undertook an extended world tour in support of "Mellon Collie". Corgan's look during this period—a shaved head, a long sleeve black shirt with the word "Zero" printed on it, and silver pants—became iconic. That year, the band also made a guest appearance in an episode of "The Simpsons", "Homerpalooza". With considerable video rotation on MTV, major industry awards, and "Zero" shirts selling in many malls, the Pumpkins were considered one of the most popular bands of the time.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: In May, the Smashing Pumpkins played a gig at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Despite the band's repeated requests for moshing to stop, a seventeen-year-old fan named Bernadette O'Brien was crushed to death. The concert ended early and the following night's performance in Belfast was cancelled out of respect for her. However, while Corgan maintained that moshing's "time [had] come and gone", the band would continue to request open-floor concerts throughout the rest of the tour.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: The band suffered a personal tragedy on the night of July 11, 1996, when touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin and Chamberlin overdosed on heroin in a hotel room in New York City. Melvoin died, and Chamberlin was arrested for drug possession. A few days later, the band announced that Chamberlin had been fired as a result of the incident. The Pumpkins chose to finish the tour, and hired drummer Matt Walker and keyboardist Dennis Flemion. Corgan later said the decision to continue touring was the worst decision the band had ever made, damaging both their music and their reputation. Chamberlin admitted in a 1994 "Rolling Stone" cover story that in the past he'd "gotten high in every city in this country and probably half the cities in Europe." But in recent years, he had reportedly been clean. On July 17, the Pumpkins issued a statement in which they said, "For nine years we have battled with Jimmy's struggles with the insidious disease of drug and alcohol addiction. It has nearly destroyed everything we are and stand for. … We wish [him] the best we have to offer". Meanwhile, the band had given interviews since the release of "Mellon Collie" stating that it would be the last conventional Pumpkins record, and that rock was becoming stale. James Iha said at the end of 1996, "The future is in electronic music. It really seems boring just to play rock music."


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: After the release of "Mellon Collie", the Pumpkins contributed many songs to various compilations. Released in early 1997, the song "Eye", which appeared on the soundtrack to David Lynch's "Lost Highway", relied almost exclusively on electronic instruments and signaled a drastic shift from the Pumpkins' previous musical styles. At the time, Corgan stated his "idea [was] to reconfigure the focus and get away from the classic guitars-bass-drum rock format." Later that year, the group contributed "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" to the soundtrack for the film "Batman & Robin". With Matt Walker on drums, the song featured a heavy sound similar to "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" while still having strong electronic influences. The song later won the 1998 Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance. Though Corgan announced that the song represented the sound people could expect from the band in the future, the band's next album would feature few guitar-driven songs.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: Recorded following the death of Corgan's mother and his divorce, 1998's "Adore" represented a significant change of style from the Pumpkins' previous guitar-based rock, veering into electronica. The record, cut with assistance from drum machines and studio drummers including Matt Walker, was infused with a darker aesthetic than much of the band's earlier work. The group also modified its public image, shedding its alternative rock look for a more subdued appearance. Although "Adore" received favorable reviews and was nominated for Best Alternative Performance at the Grammy Awards, the album had only sold about 830,000 copies in the United States by the end of the year. The album nonetheless debuted at number 2 on the "Billboard" 200 and sold three times as many copies overseas. The band began a seventeen-date, fifteen-city charity North American tour in support of "Adore". At each stop on the tour, the band donated 100 percent of tickets sales to a local charity organization. The tour's expenses were entirely funded out of the band's own pockets. All told, the band donated over $2.8 million to charity as a result of the tour. On October 31, 1998, during Halloween, the band opened for Kiss at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, dressed in costume as The Beatles.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: In 1999 the band surprised fans by reuniting with a rehabilitated Jimmy Chamberlin for a brief tour dubbed "The Arising", which showcased both new and classic material. The lineup was short-lived, however, as the band announced the departure of Wretzky in September during work on the album "Machina/The Machines of God", and the band was subsequently dropped by Sharon Osbourne Management. Former Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur was recruited for the "Sacred and Profane" tour in support of the album and appeared in the videos accompanying its release. Released in 2000, "Machina" was initially promoted as the Pumpkins' return to a more traditional rock sound, after the more gothic, electronic-sounding "Adore". The album debuted at number three on the "Billboard" charts, but quickly disappeared and as of 2007 had only been certified gold. Music journalist Jim DeRogatis, who described the album as "one of the strongest of their career", noted that the stalled sales for "Machina" in comparison to teen pop ascendant at the time "seems like concrete proof that a new wave of young pop fans has turned a deaf ear toward alternative rock."


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: On May 23, 2000, in a live radio interview on KROQ-FM (Los Angeles), Billy Corgan announced the band's decision to break up at the end of that year following additional touring and recording. The group's final album before the break-up, "Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music", was released in September 2000 in a limited pressing on vinyl with permission and instructions for free redistribution on the Internet by fans. Only twenty-five copies were cut, each of which was hand numbered and given to friends of the band along with band members themselves. The album, released under the Constantinople Records label created by Corgan, consisted of one double LP and three ten-inch EPs. Originally, the band asked Virgin to offer "Machina II" as a free download to anyone who bought "Machina". When the record label declined, Corgan opted to release the material independently.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: On December 2, 2000, Smashing Pumpkins played a farewell concert at The Metro, the same Chicago club where their career had effectively started twelve years earlier. The four-and-a-half-hour-long show featured 35 songs spanning the group's career, and attendees were given a recording of the band's first concert at The Metro, "Live at Cabaret Metro 10-5-88". The single "Untitled" was released commercially to coincide with the farewell show.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: In 2001 the compilation "Rotten Apples" was released. The double-disc version of the album, released as a limited edition, included a collection of B-sides and rarities called "Judas O". The "Greatest Hits Video Collection" DVD was also released at the same time. This was a compilation of all of the Pumpkins promo videos from "Gish" to "Machina" along with unreleased material. "Vieuphoria" was released on DVD in 2002, as was the soundtrack album "Earphoria", previously released solely to radio stations in 1994.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin reunited in 2001 as members of Corgan's next project, the short-lived supergroup Zwan. The group's only album, "Mary Star of the Sea", was released in 2003. After cancelling a few festival appearances, Corgan announced the demise of the band in 2003. During 2001 Corgan also toured as part of New Order and provided vocals on their comeback album "Get Ready". In October 2004 Corgan released his first book, "Blinking with Fists", a collection of poetry. In June 2005, he released a solo album, "TheFutureEmbrace", which he described as "(picking) up the thread of the as-yet-unfinished work of the Smashing Pumpkins". Despite this, it was greeted with generally mixed reviews and lackluster sales. Only one single, "Walking Shade", was released in support of the album.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: In addition to drumming with Zwan, Jimmy Chamberlin also formed an alternative rock/jazz fusion project band called Jimmy Chamberlin Complex. The group released an album in 2005 titled "Life Begins Again". Corgan provided guest vocals on the track "Lokicat". James Iha served as a guitarist in A Perfect Circle, appearing on their "Thirteenth Step" club tour and 2004 album, "eMOTIVe". He has also been involved with other acts such as Chino Moreno's Team Sleep and Vanessa and the O's. He continues to work with Scratchie Records, his own record label, as well. D'arcy Wretzky has, aside from one radio interview in 2009, not made any public statements or appearances nor given any interviews since leaving the band in 1999. On January 25, 2000, she was arrested after she allegedly purchased three bags of cocaine, but after successfully completing a court-ordered drug education program, the charges were dropped.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: Corgan insisted during this period that the band would not reform, although when Zwan broke up he announced, "I think my heart was in Smashing Pumpkins […] I think it was naive of me to think that I could find something that would mean as much to me." Corgan said in 2005, "I never wanted to leave the Smashing Pumpkins. That was never the plan." On February 17, 2004, Corgan posted a message on his personal blog calling Wretzky a "mean-spirited drug addict" and blaming Iha for the breakup of the Smashing Pumpkins. On June 3, 2004, he added that "the depth of my hurt [from Iha] is only matched with the depth of my gratitude". Iha responded to Corgan's claims in 2005, saying, "No, I didn't break up the band. The only person who could have done that is Billy."


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: On June 21, 2005, the day of the release of his first solo album "TheFutureEmbrace", Corgan took out full-page advertisements in the "Chicago Tribune" and "Chicago Sun-Times" to announce that he planned to reunite the band. "For a year now", Corgan wrote, "I have walked around with a secret, a secret I chose to keep. But now I want you to be among the first to know that I have made plans to renew and revive the Smashing Pumpkins. I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams". Corgan and Chamberlin were verified as participants in the reunion, but there was question as to whether other former members of the band would participate.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: In April 2007 Iha and Auf der Maur separately confirmed that they were not taking part in the reunion. Chamberlin would later state that Iha and Wretzky "didn't want to be a part of" the reunion. The Smashing Pumpkins performed live for the first time since 2000 on May 22, 2007, in Paris, France. There, the band unveiled new touring members: guitarist Jeff Schroeder, bassist Ginger Reyes, and keyboardist Lisa Harriton. That same month, "Tarantula" was released as the first single from the band's forthcoming album. On July 7, the band performed at the Live Earth concert in New Jersey.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: The band's new album, "Zeitgeist", was released that same month on Reprise Records, entering the "Billboard" charts at number two and selling 145,000 copies in its first week. "Zeitgeist" received mixed reviews, with much of the criticism targeted at the absence of half of the original lineup. The album divided the Pumpkins' fanbase. Corgan would later admit, "I know a lot of our fans are puzzled by "Zeitgeist". I think they wanted this massive, grandiose work, but you don't just roll out of bed after seven years without a functioning band and go back to doing that".


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: Corgan and Chamberlin continued to record as a duo, releasing the four-song EP "American Gothic" in January 2008 and the singles "Superchrist" and "G.L.O.W." later that year. That November, the group released the DVD "If All Goes Wrong", which chronicled the group's 2007 concert residences in Asheville, North Carolina and San Francisco, California. In late 2008, the band commenced on a controversy-riddled 20th Anniversary Tour. Around this time, Corgan said the group will make no more full-length records in order to focus exclusively on singles, explaining, "The listening patterns have changed, so why are we killing ourselves to do albums, to create balance, and do the arty track to set up the single? It's done."


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: In March 2009 Corgan announced on the band's website that Chamberlin had left the group and would be replaced. Chamberlin subsequently stated that his departure from the band is "a positive move forward for me. I can no longer commit all of my energy into something that I don't fully possess." Chamberlin stressed that the split was amicable, commenting, "I am glad [Corgan] has chosen to continue under the name. It is his right." Chamberlin soon formed the band Skysaw, which has released an album and toured in support of Minus the Bear. In July 2009 Billy Corgan formed a new group called Spirits in the Sky, initially as a tribute band to Sky Saxon of the Seeds, who had recently died. The following month Corgan confirmed on the band's website that 19-year-old Spirits in the Sky drummer Mike Byrne had replaced Chamberlin and that the pair was working on new Pumpkins recordings.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: The group announced plans to release a 44-track concept album, "Teargarden by Kaleidyscope", for free over the Internet one track at a time. The first track, "A Song for a Son", was released in December 2009 to moderate press acclaim. In March 2010 Ginger Reyes officially left the band, prompting an open call for auditions for a new bassist. In May, Nicole Fiorentino announced she had joined the band as bass player, and would be working on "Teargarden by Kaleidyscope". The new lineup went on a world tour through to the end of 2010. One of the first shows with the new lineup was a concert to benefit Matthew Leone, bassist for the rock band Madina Lake, at the Metro on July 27, 2010. In late 2010 all four members contributed to the sessions for the third volume of "Teargarden".


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: On April 26, 2011, Corgan announced that the Smashing Pumpkins would be releasing a new album titled "Oceania", which he labeled as "an album within an album" in regards to the "Teargarden by Kaleidyscope" project, in the fall. As with the previous recording sessions, all four band members contributed to the project. Also, the entire album catalog was to be remastered and reissued with bonus tracks, starting with "Gish" and "Siamese Dream" in November 2011. The pre-"Gish" demos, "Pisces Iscariot", and "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" were released in 2012, with "The Aeroplane Flies High" released the following year. "Adore" was released in 2014, and "Machina/The Machines of God" and the yet commercially unreleased "Machina II/Friends and Enemies of Modern Music" are expected to be combined, remixed, and released in the same year. The band did a thirteen-city US tour in October 2011 followed by a European tour in November and December.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: "Oceania" was released on June 19, 2012, and received generally positive reviews. The album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and at No. 1 on the Billboard Independent. The album spawned two singles, "The Celestials" and "Panopticon". The band proceeded to tour in support of the album, including a US tour involving playing the album in its entirety. By September 2012, Corgan stated that the band had already begun work on their next album. However, despite this, the band concentrated on touring, playing at Glastonbury Festival, Dour Festival and the Barclays Center, where they recorded "", which was released on September 24, 2013.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: On March 25, 2014, Corgan announced he had signed a new record deal with BMG, for two new albums, titled "Monuments to an Elegy" and "Day for Night", respectively. In June, it was revealed that Mike Byrne was no longer in the band, to be replaced by Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe on the new album, and Fiorentino would not be recording on the album either. "Monuments to an Elegy" was released on December 5, 2014, to generally positive reviews. The band toured in support of the album starting on November 26, with Rage Against the Machine's Brad Wilk filling in on drums and the Killers' Mark Stoermer filling in on bass. The follow-up proposed album "Day For Night" was cited for delayed late 2015 or early 2016 release.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: Later in 2015 Corgan announced that the band would embark on a co-headlining tour of North America with Marilyn Manson, "The End Times Tour", across July and August 2015. Prior to the co-headlining dates, the band performed a series of acoustic shows with drum machines and tapes for percussion. When the time came for the co-headlining tour, plans for a drummer fell through and Corgan recruited Chamberlin to reunite for the shows. On February 1, 2016, it was announced that the band would continue their "In Plainsong" acoustic tour with Jimmy Chamberlin on drums and were planning to head "straight to the studio after the dates to record a brand new album inspired by the sounds explored in the new acoustic setting". On February 25, 2016, Corgan posted a video from a Los Angeles studio on the band's Facebook account, giving an update on the writing process for the new songs for the upcoming album to be released after the "In Plainsong" tour.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: On his birthday on March 26, 2016, original guitarist James Iha joined Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin, and Jeff Schroeder on stage unannounced at the Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. He performed a few songs, including "Mayonaise", "Soma" and "Today" marking his first appearance with the Smashing Pumpkins in 16 years. Iha also played at the second of the two Smashing Pumpkins shows at the Ace Hotel the following day, which was Easter Sunday. Iha joined the Pumpkins for a third time at their concert of April 14 at the Civic Opera House in Chicago. In July, Corgan began hinting of the possibility of reuniting the band original lineup, of himself, Iha, Wretzky, and Chamberlin, and in August, he stated he had begun reaching out to the original lineup about the feasibility of a reunion, including speaking to Wretzky for the first time in sixteen years. Despite the comments, Corgan would spend much of 2017 working on solo material – recording and releasing the solo album "Ogilala" and beginning work on another solo album for 2018. In June 2017 Chamberlin also mentioned the possibility of a reunion tour in 2018. In January 2018 Corgan shared a photo of himself, Iha, and Chamberlin together in recording studio. In February 2018 Corgan announced that he was working with music producer Rick Rubin on a future Smashing Pumpkins album, that there were currently 26 songs he was actively working on, and that "the guitar feels once again like the preferred weapon of choice." Soon afterwards, Corgan shared a photo of sound equipment with Iha's name on a label, as well as announcing recording was finished on the album.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: On February 15, 2018, founding members Iha and Chamberlin rejoined the band. They embarked on the Shiny And Oh So Bright Tour starting in July, with a focus on performing material from their first five studio albums. and sold over 350,000 tickets and sold-out arenas including The Forum, United Center, and Madison Square Garden. Original bassist D'arcy Wretzky claimed she had been offered a contract to rejoin the band but Corgan rescinded the offer soon after. Corgan released a statement denying the claims, stating "Ms. Wretzky has repeatedly been invited out to play with the group, participate in demo sessions, or at the very least, meet face-to-face, and in each and every instance she always deferred". Jack Bates (son of Joy Division bassist Peter Hook) played bass on the tour. Bates previously toured with the Smashing Pumpkins in 2015. Multi-instrumentalist Katie Cole rejoined the band for the tour as well, singing backup vocals and playing keyboards and guitar.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: In March 2018, Corgan mentioned the band planned to release two EPs in 2018, with the first tentatively planned for May. On June 8, 2018, the first single from the set of music, "Solara", was released. On August 2, 2018, the band celebrated their 30th anniversary by performing in Holmdel, New Jersey. with several notable special guests including Courtney Love, Chino Moreno, Davey Havok, Peter Hook, Mark McGrath, and Dave Keuning and Mark Stoermer of The Killers. In September 2018, they announced the album "", released via Napalm Records on November 16, 2018, which debuted at number 54 on the Billboard 200 chart.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: After touring through much of 2019, Corgan noted in January 2020 that the band was currently working on 21 songs for a future album release. On August 28, 2020, the band released the single and video for "Cyr", along with a second track titled "The Colour of Love" from their album "Cyr", which was released through their new record label Sumerian Records on November 27, 2020. It serves as the second part of the "Shiny and Oh So Bright" series. On September 25, 2020, the band released another single from "Cyr" that included the songs "Confessions of a Dopamine Addict" and "Wrath". On October 9, 2020, the band released a third single for "Cyr" that featured the tracks "Anno Satana" and "Birch Grove". On October 29, the band released "Ramona" and "Wyttch" as the fourth pair of singles. On November 20, 2020, the songs "Purple Blood" and "Dulcet in E" were released as the fifth and final single for "Cyr." The following week, on November 27, 2020, the band released "Cyr." Despite never getting to properly tour "Cyr," the band did play four songs from the album at their headlining shows at Riot Fest and Sea.Hear.Now Festival in September 2021.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: In late 2020, Corgan announced that the band would begin work on another double album for release in 2021, although the year passed without the album releasing. It is to serve as a sequel to the overarching story of "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" and "Machina: The Machines of God." The album was officially revealed to be titled "" on September 19, 2022. Each act will be released on its own, with the dates in order being November 15, 2022, January 31, 2023, and April 21, 2023. All of the acts, along with ten extra songs, will be compiled into a vinyl boxset that will be released the same day as the third grouping of songs. On February 22, 2022, the band announced on social media the Rock Invasion 2 Tour, which had previously been set to take place in spring 2020, but had been postponed to fall 2020 and subsequently canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The newly announced incarnation of the tour had entirely new locations spanning 11 US cities accompanying the band's spring festival appearances and four performances in Mexico, their first since 2013. In May 2022, the band announced plans for the Spirits on Fire tour with Jane's Addiction. In November 2022, the World is a Vampire Festival was announced for March 2023.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: The direction of the band is dominated by lead guitarist, lead vocalist, keyboardist, bassist and principal songwriter Billy Corgan. Journalist Greg Kot wrote, "The music [of the Smashing Pumpkins] would not be what it is without his ambition and vision, and his famously fractured relationships with his family, friends, and bandmembers." Melissa Auf der Maur commented upon news of the group's reunion, "Everyone knows Billy doesn't need too many people to make a Pumpkins record, other than Jimmy [Chamberlin]—who he has on board." In a 2015 interview Corgan himself referred to the current iteration of the band "as sort of an open source collective" noting that "It's whoever feels right at the time." Many of Corgan's lyrics for the Pumpkins are cathartic expressions of emotion, full of personal musings and strong indictments of himself and those close to him. Music critics were not often fans of Corgan's angst-filled lyrics. Jim DeRogatis wrote in a 1993 "Chicago Sun-Times" article that Corgan's lyrics "too often sound like sophomoric poetry", although he viewed the lyrics of later albums "Adore" and "Machina" as an improvement. The band's songs have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land" by journalist William Shaw.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: Smashing Pumpkins, unlike many alternative rock bands at the time, disavowed the influence of punk rock on their sound. Overall, they have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegazing, and electronica in later recordings.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: The Smashing Pumpkins' distinctive sound up until "Adore" involved layering numerous guitar tracks onto a song during the recording process, a tactic that "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" coproducer Flood called the "Pumpkin guitar overdub army." Although there were a lot of overdubbed parts on "Gish", Corgan began to really explore the possibilities of overdubbing with "Siamese Dream"; Corgan has stated that "Soma" alone contains up to 40 overdubbed guitar parts. While Corgan knew many of the songs would be difficult or impossible to replicate from their recorded versions in concert (in fact, some songs were drastically altered for live performance), he has explained the use of overdubbing by posing the question "When you are faced with making a permanent recorded representation of a song, why not endow it with the grandest possible vision?" This use of multilayered sounds was inspired by Corgan's love of 1970s popular artists and bands such as David Bowie, Cheap Trick, Queen, Boston, and the Electric Light Orchestra, as well as shoegaze, a British alternative rock style of the late 1980s and early 1990s that relied on swirling layers of guitar noise for effect. "Mellon Collie" coproducer Alan Moulder was originally hired to mix "Siamese Dream" because Corgan was a fan of his work producing shoegaze bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Ride, and Slowdive.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: Like many contemporary alternative bands, the Smashing Pumpkins utilized shifts in song dynamics, going from quiet to loud and vice versa. Hüsker Dü's seminal album "Zen Arcade" demonstrated to the band how they could place gentler material against more aggressive fare, and Corgan made such shifts in dynamics central to the pursuit of his grand musical ambitions. Corgan said he liked the idea of creating his own alternative universe through sound that essentially tells the listener, "Welcome to Pumpkin Land, this is what it sounds like on Planet Pumpkin." This emphasis on atmosphere carried through to "Adore" (described as "arcane night music" in prerelease promotion) and the "Machina" albums (concept records that tell the story of a fictional rock band).


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: The Pumpkins drew inspiration from a variety of other genres, some unfashionable during the 1990s among music critics. Corgan in particular was open about his appreciation of heavy metal, citing Dimebag Darrell of Pantera as his favorite contemporary guitarist. When one interviewer commented to Corgan and Iha that "Smashing Pumpkins is one of the groups that relegitimized heavy metal" and that they "were among the first alternative rockers to mention people like Ozzy and Black Sabbath with anything other than contempt". Corgan went on to rave about Black Sabbath's "Master of Reality" and Judas Priest's "Unleashed in the East". The song "Zero", which reminded Iha of Judas Priest, is an example of what the band dubbed "cybermetal." Post-punk and gothic rock bands like Joy Division/New Order, Bauhaus, the Cure, and Depeche Mode were formative influences on the band, which covered such artists in concert and on record. Corgan also cited Siouxsie and the Banshees saying it was important to point back to bands that influenced them. Psychedelic rock was also referenced often in the band's early recordings; according to Corgan, "In typical Pumpkins fashion, no one at that point really liked loud guitars or psychedelic music so, of course, that's exactly what we had to do." Corgan felt that the band's guitars "are a mixture of heavy metal and 80s alternative rock. I think of Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees". Corgan acknowledged that a chord he jokingly claimed as "the Pumpkin chord" (a G# octave chord at the eleventh fret of a guitar with the low E string played under it), used as the basis for "Cherub Rock", "Drown", and other songs, was in fact previously used by Jimi Hendrix. Other early influences cited by Corgan include Cream, the Stooges, and Blue Cheer.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: Regarding the band's influence upon other groups, Greg Kot wrote in 2001, "Whereas Nirvana spawned countless mini-Nirvanas, the Pumpkins remain an island unto themselves." Still, some artists and bands have been influenced by the Pumpkins, such as Nelly Furtado, Marilyn Manson, Third Eye Blind, Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, Tegan and Sara, Fall Out Boy, Rivers Cuomo, Panic! at the Disco, Silversun Pickups, and My Chemical Romance. My Chemical Romance vocalist Gerard Way has said that they pattern their career upon the Pumpkins', including music videos. The members of fellow Chicago band Kill Hannah are friends with Corgan, and lead singer Mat Devine has compared his group to the Pumpkins.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: The group has sold over 30 million albums worldwide as of October 2012, and sales in the United States alone reaching 19.75 million.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: The Smashing Pumpkins have been praised as "responsible for some of the most striking and memorable video clips" and for having "approached videos from a completely artistic standpoint rather than mere commercials to sell albums". MTV's 2001 anniversary special "Testimony: 20 Years of Rock on MTV" credited the Pumpkins, along with Nine Inch Nails, with treating music videos as an art form during the 1990s. Corgan has said, "We generally resisted the idea of what I call the classic MTV rock video, which is like lots of people jumping around and stuff." The band worked with video directors including Kevin Kerslake ("Cherub Rock"), Samuel Bayer ("Bullet with Butterfly Wings"), and, most frequently, the team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris ("Rocket", "1979", "Tonight, Tonight", "The End Is the Beginning Is the End", and "Perfect"). Corgan, who was frequently heavily involved in the conception of the videos, said of Dayton and Faris, "I know my [initial] versions are always darker, and they're always talking me into something a little kinder and gentler." Videos like "Today", "Rocket", and "1979" dealt with images taken from middle American culture, albeit exaggerated. The group's videos so often avoid the literal interpretation of the song lyrics that the video for "Thirty-Three", with images closely related to the words of the song, was created as an intentional stylistic departure.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: The band was nominated for several MTV Video Music Awards during the 1990s. In 1996, the group won eight VMAs total for the "1979" and "Tonight, Tonight" videos, including the top award, Video of the Year, for "Tonight, Tonight". The video was also nominated for a Grammy at the 1997 ceremony. Of the "Tonight, Tonight" video, Corgan remarked, "I don't think we've ever had people react [like this]... it just seemed to touch a nerve."


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: Shortly after the band's 2000 breakup, the "Greatest Hits Video Collection" was released, collecting the band's music videos from 1991 to 2000 and including commentary from Corgan, Iha, Chamberlin, Wretzky, and various music video directors with outtakes, live performances, and the extended "Try, Try, Try" short film.


title: The Smashing Pumpkins

text: † Part of "Teargarden by Kaleidyscope" (2009–2014), an overarching project abandoned before completion.


title: Ken Jeong

text: Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong (, ; born July 13, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, writer and licensed physician. He rose to prominence for playing Leslie Chow in "The Hangover" film series (2009–2013) and Ben Chang in the NBC sitcom "Community" (2009–2015). He created, wrote and produced the ABC sitcom "Dr. Ken" (2015–2017), in which he portrays the titular character, and he has appeared in the films "Knocked Up" (2007), "Role Models" (2008), "Furry Vengeance" (2010), "The Duff" (2015), "Ride Along 2" (2016), "Crazy Rich Asians" (2018) and "Tom & Jerry" (2021).


title: Ken Jeong

text: Jeong is still a licensed physician in California but has since stopped practicing in favor of his acting career. He currently appears as a panelist on the American version of the singing competition show "The Masked Singer" and appeared on the first series of the British version. He also serves as the host of "I Can See Your Voice".


title: Ken Jeong

text: Jeong was born in Detroit, Michigan, to South Korean immigrant parents, D.K. and Young Jeong. His father D.K. received his Ph.D. in economics from Wayne State University. Jeong was raised in Greensboro, North Carolina. D.K. Jeong was a professor of economics at North Carolina A&T State University.


title: Ken Jeong

text: Jeong attended Walter Hines Page High School, where he participated in the regional quiz bowl, was elected to the student council, and played violin in the school orchestra. He graduated in 1986 at the age of 16, and later went on to receive Greensboro's Youth of the Year award for his achievements.


title: Ken Jeong

text: Jeong began pursuing acting while a sophomore at Duke University. He briefly considered majoring in drama while still continuing his pre-med coursework. He graduated from Duke in 1990 and obtained his M.D. at the UNC School of Medicine in 1995. The summer before medical school, he took theater classes at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).


title: Ken Jeong

text: Jeong's background in theater and improv started while he was still a medical student in North Carolina. He was a regular at open mic nights in the Raleigh-Durham circuit, performing at Charlie Goodnights in Raleigh and Tootie's Durham Comedy Club. He also emceed The Comedy Spot programming series on Duke University campus 1992 and 1993 (produced by his friend Kendrick Jahng) opening for Margaret Cho, Jeff Dunham, and others.


title: Ken Jeong

text: Jeong won the Big Easy Laff-Off in 1995 while still in residency. NBC president Brandon Tartikoff and The Improv founder Budd Friedman were judges and they both urged Jeong to move to Los Angeles.


title: Ken Jeong

text: Jeong moved to Los Angeles in 1998 and practiced medicine for several years as a physician of internal medicine at a Kaiser Permanente hospital in Woodland Hills. He began performing regularly at The Improv and Laugh Factory comedy clubs. His stand-up work led to several television appearances, including NBC's "The Office", FOX's "MADtv", HBO's "Entourage", and "Curb Your Enthusiasm".


title: Ken Jeong

text: He made his film debut in Judd Apatow's "Knocked Up" as Dr. Kuni, which proved to be his breakout performance. From that point forward he was able to transition from medicine into a full-time career in the entertainment industry. Jeong gave up the practice in 2006 in favor of his acting career; however, he maintains his medical license and has assisted with medical emergencies during performances and on-set.


title: Ken Jeong

text: Early in Jeong's career, he studied with director Natalia Lazarus at the Los Angeles Performing Arts Conservatory where she coached him for his film debut in "Knocked Up". Lazarus coached Jeong from 2006 - 2012 for all of his film and television roles through "The Hangover Part II".


title: Ken Jeong

text: Subsequently, he has appeared in " Step Brothers"; "Pineapple Express"; "Role Models" as King Argotron; "All About Steve"; ""; "Couples Retreat"; and as Mr. Chow in "The Hangover", "The Hangover Part II", and "The Hangover Part III". He co-starred in "Zookeeper" and "", released in summer 2011.


title: Ken Jeong

text: Jeong played Señor Chang on the NBC sitcom "Community" and was nominated for the show's "Male Breakout Star" at the 2010 Teen Choice Awards. He was nominated for two 2010 MTV Movie Awards, winning the award for "Best WTF Moment" and for MTV Movie Award for Best Villain for "The Hangover". In fall 2010, Adidas basketball began a wide-ranging marketing campaign in which he starred as "Slim Chin", alongside NBA stars Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose. On May 22, 2011, he hosted the "2011 Billboard Music Awards" in Las Vegas on ABC and was featured in a Hands Only CPR PSA campaign from the American Heart Association on June 15, 2011.


title: Ken Jeong

text: In 2012, it was reported that Jamie Foxx and Jeong have each agreed to star in movies written and produced by the other. Foxx has agreed to take a leading role in the Jeong's buddy comedy "After Prom". Jeong, in turn, would star in Foxx's sports comedy "All-Star Weekend". He also started as the voice of Dr. Yap in the animated comedy series "Bob's Burgers".


title: Ken Jeong

text: In 2013, he appeared in Michael Bay's "Pain & Gain" (2013), as Johnny Wu, a motivational speaker. Later that year, he returned in a significantly expanded role as Mr. Chow in "The Hangover Part III".


title: Ken Jeong

text: He voiced Kim Ly in the animated film "Turbo" (2013). In 2015, Jeong starred, wrote, and executive produced the pilot of his new ABC medical comedy, "Dr. Ken", as a frustrated HMO doctor juggling his career, marriage, and parenting, but succeeding at none of them. On May 7, 2015, the series was ordered by ABC to debut in the 2015–16 TV season starring Jeong, Suzy Nakamura, Dave Foley, Tisha Campbell-Martin, and Jonathan Slavin. The series premiered on October 2, 2015.


title: Ken Jeong

text: In August 2018, Fox cast Jeong as a celebrity panelist on its upcoming music competition series "The Masked Singer", based on the South Korean series "King of Mask Singer". Additionally, Jeong appeared as a panelist on the first series of the British adaptation of the show. In January 2019, Jeong made a guest appearance on "King of Mask Singer", performing "Creep" by Radiohead as the Golden Pig.


title: Ken Jeong

text: Jeong's first comedy special, "You Complete Me, Ho", was released in 2019 on Netflix. The Epilepsy Foundation issued a statement regarding a joke in the performance that used an inaccurately referenced seizure first aid technique.


title: Ken Jeong

text: Jeong was awarded the Visionary Award by East West Players, the oldest Asian Pacific American theatre company in the United States, for helping to raise "the visibility of the Asian Pacific American (APA) community through [his] craft."


title: Ken Jeong

text: In February 2020, Fox named Jeong as host and co-executive producer of its upcoming music game show "I Can See Your Voice", also based on a South Korean format.


title: Ken Jeong

text: In March 2020, Jeong started a podcast with fellow "Community" actor Joel McHale, "The Darkest Timeline with Ken Jeong & Joel McHale", as a response to the social isolation brought on by COVID-19 pandemic. They became the new hosts of Fox's New Year's Eve special "New Year's Eve Toast & Roast 2021". The second edition was canceled due to the quickly-rising cases of Omicron variant in the COVID-19 pandemic. He also voiced Dynomutt in the Scooby-Doo animated film "Scoob!".