Smashing Pumpkins Shift Band Lineup Ahead of Tour
According to a report from The Pulse of Radio, the lineup of Smashing Pumpkins has been shifted 
ahead of the band’s forthcoming acoustic tour and run of dates with Marilyn Manson.
While Jeff Schroeder remains on guitar for Smashing Pumpkins, drummer Brad Wilk (Rage Against the Machine) and bassist Mark Stoermer (bass) have departed. Their roles will be filled by Robin Diaz and Katie Cole.
Blabbermouth.com notes that Diaz has previously recorded with Chris Cornell, Courtney Love, Britney Spears and One Direction. Cole, meanwhile, is a singer-songwriter who has played on the same bill as Billy Corgan in the past, and will be the opening act during the Smashing Pumpkins’ acoustic tour.
Recently in an interview with Rolling Stone, Corgan cleared up a previous quote he made suggesting that the future of Smashing Pumpkins was uncertain.
“Never said that,” offered Corgan when asked about the comment. “I have been asked about it maybe 40 times since, and I have said the same thing every time. Never said it. All I was saying was that if these albums that I am doing – I’m now on the second of the two – don’t go where I need them to go, then I would take the Smashing Pumpkins in a different direction, i.e., I would maybe make four-hour albums, or I would make one song at a time again. But it doesn’t fly in the social-media era, because all it does is become clickbait. No one will actually read what you said. No one will actually read the subtext of your quote. I’m waking up and realizing that I don’t want to be clickbait anymore. Here’s a good headline: “Billy Corgan Slams Himself.” [Laughs.] “Billy Corgan Rips Himself.”
He continued: “I’ve basically said that Smashing Pumpkins dies when I die, and maybe not even then. Maybe my niece will take over the franchise when I’m dead. Kiss is already talking about continuing past Gene and Paul, so why not the Smashing Pumpkins beyond William Patrick Corgan? We live in an era when everything is alive and everything is dead at the same time. If you are a fan of a particular band that’s older, you can go on YouTube and relive their past as much as you want to. You don’t have to go see them live. You don’t have to listen to their new music. And then you have fans that are really not connected to, in my case, the Nineties. They know the Nineties music, sort of, but it’s not their music. We are dealing with a conflux of so many different audiences coming from so many different directions now.”
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