The Smashing Pumpkins are about to announce details behind their new album and tour featuring original members Billy Corgan, James Iha, and Jimmy Chamberlin. As previously reported the reunion will not include original bassist D'Arcy Wretzky.
Wretzky announced last month that she was not part of the reunion because the Smashing Pumpkins decided to use another bass player. This week Wretzky revealed to Blast Echo that initially she was planning to join her bandmates in the studio to record one new song in January, but apparently plans changed without anyone telling her and she found out about the secret recording session with her ex-bandmates only after Corgan posted a picture on Instagram. She also claims that she had an offer to join the reunion at one point but the offer was later rescinded by Billy Corgan.
Read more of Wretzky's comments about the situation here.
The Smashing Pumpkins have now issued their own statement on the situation with Wretzky, claiming they've attempted to include her in the reunion and has "repeatedly been invited out to play with the group, participate in demo sessions, or at the very least, meet face-to-face, and in each and every instance, she always deferred" participation. Read the Smashing Pumpkins statement on the matter over at NME.
UPDATE: Wretzky has opened up about her dealings with Corgan in another interview, claiming he's blown her off several times over the years, claims he's not mentally well and "needs an MRI." Read more about that here.
The Smashing Pumpkins are poised to announce their reunion officially on Thursday and a countdown clock is ticking down over at the official Smashing Pumpkins website. The countdown ends on Thursday, February 15th at noon and it's expected that the reunion tour and/or reunion album will officially be announced at that time.
So far the replacement bass player for the Smashing Pumpkins has not been announced though it's widely rumored to be Jack Bates (Peter Hook's son) who currently plays in Hooky's band The Light.
Published February 13th, 2018
