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SMASHED PUMPKINS
Bill Hoffmann
Social Links for Bill Hoffmann
May 25, 2000 4:00am
THE Smashing Pumpkins are going to the jack-o'-lantern junkyard – busting up after 12 years, the group announced yesterday. But music insiders say the bombshell news that the alternative rock giants will split by year's end may just be hype.
"Their leader Billy Corgan is one of the best businessmen in rock 'n' roll and knows this kind of news can sell more albums and concert tickets," a friend of the Chicago-based band told The Post.
"The Pumpkins' latest album 'Machina/The Machines of God' hasn't done as well as they had hoped, so this break-up story will help heat up the sales."
In fact, Corgan does have plans for the Pumpkins, who are now on a U.S. tour and plan to hit Europe later this year.
He's hinting he'll release a live album from the tour and may even embark on a farewell tour.
Corgan also said he and his bandmates are still the best of buddies and are going to stay in touch.
"There's nothing wrong inside the band. But the way the culture is and stuff, it's hard to keep trying to fight the good fight against the Britneys," he said during an interview on Los Angeles radio station KROQ, referring to Britney Spears and other pop sensations.
Corgan may have learned a valuable lesson from The Who, the legendary British band that's had numerous farewell tours over the past two decades – and is back this year for one more.
After the break, Corgan intends to continue making music, he said, while guitarist James Iha will do solo rock projects.
But drummer Jimmy Chamberlin will make a radical departure from showbiz, pursuing a career in auto racing, the band announced yesterday.
The band's publicist Annie Ohayon said the group "has been talking about this among themselves for some time."
The Pumpkins' acclaimed records included their 1993 album "Siamese Dream" and the 1995 double-opus "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" – which sold over 16 million copies worldwide.
They had hit singles with "Cherub Rock," "Today," "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" and "1979."
The band had it share of tragedies over the years, including the drug overdose death of keyboard player Jonathan Melvoin and the temporary firing of drummer Chamberlin for ongoing drug problems.
The group is also suing its former manager Sharon Osbourne, wife of heavy-metal star Ozzy Osbourne, for fraud and breach of contract.
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