D’Arcy Wretzky Contradicts Billy Corgan Statements About Smashing Pumpkins Reunion Tour

by Hillary Luehring-JonesFebruary 13, 2018, 11:47 pmDaily Digest, News, News Feed >

90s rock band The Smashing Pumpkins will be heading into a summer reunion tour with three out of its four original members.

SMASHING PUMPKINS BAND MATES BICKER ABOUT REUNION TOUR

Frontman Billy Corgan has gotten old bandmates drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and rhythm guitarist James Iha back into the fold, but original bassist D’Arcy Wretzky will not be joining for the tour. In a recent interview with BlastEcho, Wretzky claims that Corgan at first invited her to be involved but then rescinded his offer.

The next day, Corgan put out a statement arguing that he offered Wretzky the chance to play with the band, but that she declined. “Despite reports, Ms. Wretzky 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,” he wrote.

The bassist then responded with evidence in the form of text messages, showing Corgan invite her and then retract his invitation. The messages were published on Alternative Nation. First, the pair speak about Wretzky’s ongoing shoulder issues and discuss whether that will hinder her from joining. Then it turns to talking about Corgan’s expectations for the band and the tour. While at first, the singer seems enthusiastic and happy to invite Wretzky to join, his demeanor slowly gets colder and more angry.

“We want you involved in the tour however you’d like to be involved. I think it will mean A LOT to fans if you are up onstage every night. And even if you can’t play due to your shoulder stuff you can certainly sing and daydream and participate in other ways,” reads a text from Corgan near the beginning of the conversation. Wretzky confirms that she wants to be involved as much as possible. Corgan later tells her to check her enthusiasm because this tour could make or break the Pumpkins as they are now.

“We understand your enthusiasm. But we also have to balance the forces at play. I know you don’t agree, nor do you have to. This is a big tour with maximum pressure. There is no room for error. We blow, this meaning me James Jimmy Jeff’s band is toast,” he says.

A later message sees Wretzky say, “do you know really pissed me off I was so happy last night I’m sorry for what I’m going to do right now but I have to do it for my own…” That is where the text gets cut off. The next part published is about tour t-shirts.

Wretzky also wrote about Corgan and the band on her Facebook page in a series of now-deleted posts. “If one takes the time to read it carefully, one will notice that as the conversation continues, the roll i’m offered becomes ever smaller,” she said. “Finally Billy says that what I deserve is a T-shirt w/my face on it. I spoke with him and asked him if there was any possible way that i’d be able to play bass on the tour and he said no.”

Dates and ticket sales of the reunion tour have yet to be announced, but a countdown has been added to the official Smashing Pumpkins website.