Flipping through the Chicago Tribune may have given residents of the Windy City a bit of a surprise today.

Instead of a news article on page five of the leading local paper, readers instead found a full-page letter addressed to the city from Billy Corgan, former leader of popular ’90s rock act, The Smashing Pumpkins. In it, Corgan reveals a “secret”: his desire to resurrect the band that made him a household name.

Corgan’s famous mug is splashed across the top half of the page. Below it is a heartfelt message from the singer announcing the release of his first solo album and his “plans to renew and revive The Smashing Pumpkins.”

Just last month, Corgan told MTV, “You won’t see the four Smashing Pumpkins onstage again.” How quickly things change. Now the 38-year-old is declaring, “I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams.”

The Smashing Pumpkins officially disbanded following a final four-hour concert at Chicago venue, The Metro, on December 2, 2000, marking the end of a successful but also turbulent twelve-year career. Amidst more than 25 million record sales and two Grammys (Hard Rock Performance 1996 for “Bullet with Butterfly Wings”, and Hard Rock Performance 1997 for “The End Is the Beginning Is the End”), inner-band conflicts marred the group’s image. Guitarist James Iha has been blamed by Corgan for breaking up the band.

Corgan’s letter does not specify whether all four of the original Pumpkins (including drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, guitarist James Iha and bassist D’Arcy Wretzky) will reunite or when the band’s comeback will take place.

But for now, die-hard fans can quench their thirsts on Corgan’s solo effort, “TheFutureEmbrace.” The album hit record store shelves today and is his second attempt at music after the Pumpkins: Corgan started up the band Zwan with Chamberlin in 2001 before he pulled the plug again two years later.






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