The GRAMMY Museum was thrilled to welcome frontman Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins for an intimate conversation about his career, recent music, and creative process.

When The Smashing Pumpkins first emerged out of Chicago in 1988, the world had never heard a band quite like them. They spun together rock, pop, shoe-gaze, metal, goth, psychedelia, and electronic into a kaleidoscope of saccharine melodies, fuzzy distortion, bombastic orchestration, incendiary fretwork, eloquent songcraft, and unshakable hooks. Upon their formation, their sound was different, iconoclastic, and wholly new—and it still is today. As a result, they’ve sold over 30 million albums worldwide and collected two GRAMMY® Awards, two MTV VMAs, and an American Music Award. Their catalog is highlighted by the platinum Gish [1991], the quadruple-platinum Siamese Dream [1993], diamond-certified Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness [1995], platinum Adore [1998], and gold Machina/The Machines of God [2000]. In 2018, they embarked on one of their most successful tours ever, the Shiny and Oh So Bright Tour, followed by SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT, VOL. 1 / LP: NO PAST. NO FUTURE. NO SUN. Meanwhile, 2020 saw the release of the band’s eleventh full-length and latest double album, CYR. In 2023, The Smashing Pumpkins released their album, ATUM. The sequel to 1995’s Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and 2000’s Machina/Machine of God, ATUM features 33-tracks in 3 acts and was written and produced by Corgan.