After nearly two years of rumors, we finally found out on Sunday with leaked photos from a photo shoot that The Smashing Pumpkins reunion lineup will feature Billy Corgan, James Iha, Jimmy Chamberlin, and Jeff Schroeder. This will be the first time Corgan, Iha, and Chamberlin have been bandmates since the original Pumpkins run ended in December 2000.
Absent is original bassist D’arcy Wretzky, who revealed last month that she had just been informed that she wouldn’t be part of the reunion and that she was ‘disappointed’ by the news. D’arcy has been out of the music business and public eye since leaving the Pumpkins in 1999, and has had ups and downs in her personal life since then.
We don’t know the exact reason yet that D’arcy was disinvited from the reunion, but based on the involvement of James Iha, who was very close to D’arcy during the band’s original run and the lone original member to keep in contact with her for many years, we’re guessing it had to be a very good reason for him to agree with Corgan and Chamberlin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4XU2pnzfhc
Based on D’arcy’s physical and mental health obviously, a great way to involve her in this incarnation of the Pumpkins but without burdening her with the pressure of extensive touring would be to have her play at select shows as a special guest. Guns N’ Roses did this with Steven Adler in 2016 for the Not In This Lifetime tour, as he came out at select shows to play a couple of songs. It was a chance for him to play again with his old bandmates, but without the commitment of being a full time member of the band.
Mick Taylor has joined The Rolling Stones as a special guest at many shows since 2012, playing a couple of songs at shows but without becoming a full fledged member of the band again. James Iha’s initial reunion with The Smashing Pumpkins in 2016 was as a guest performer, playing Siamese Dream songs at three shows as a surprise in Los Angeles in Chicago.
A role for D’arcy where she could play a few songs at select shows in cities like Detroit (she lives in Michigan) and Chicago could be a perfect role for her with the The Smashing Pumpkins in 2018. It could give her and the original lineup the proper closure that they never had. If you’re reading this Billy, James, Jimmy, and Jeff, please give this idea some thought!
