By the mid 90’s, The Smashing Pumpkins were one of the most popular rock bands in the world. First bursting onto the scene in 1991 with their debut album Gish, they built a bigger following with their follow-up release, Siamese Dream in 1993.
In 1994, the band headlined Lollapalooza and the following year they released their epic 2-disc CD, Melancholy and The Infinite Sadness. The band seemed to be riding high and living the dream but that wasn’t the case.
Jimmy Chamberlin’s days with the band dated back to their early years when they were made up of frontman Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha and bassist D’arcy Wretzky. Up until this point, the trio were playing live shows using a drum machine.
“Man, did they sound horrible!” – Jimmy Chamberlin
Chamberlin expressed his interest in joining the band, telling Modern Drummer Magazine in 1994, “So I went out and saw the band – Billy, James, and D’arcy – playing at Avalon with a drum machine. Man, did they sound horrible! They were atrocious. But the thing I noticed was that not only were the song structures good, but Billy’s voice had a lot of drive to it, like he was dying to succeed. So I ended up driving from work every Wednesday to rehearse with them.”
Corgan recalled how he didn’t think Chamberlain was initially a good fit for the group, “We were sort of looking each other in the eye thinking, ‘This ain’t gonna happen, this is not the guy.’ But he’d learned all our songs, as only Jimmy can, off the top of his head, and, within one practice, we were ready to play. It was amazing. We just knew right away. He’s that good.”
Jimmy Chamberlain joined The Smashing Pumpkins on their debut album, Gish. By the time the band began work on their second album, Siamese Dream, Corgan felt the band was on the verge of breaking up.
“I hated all my friends, I hated myself, I hated the band.” – Billy Corgan
According to Details Magazine, who interviewed the band in 1993, Corgan’s decision to air the band’s dirty laundry in public created a lot of resentment within the group. “I hated all my friends, I hated myself, I hated the band.”
Corgan entered therapy which forced him to talk more openly about his emotions, write songs about them and become more honest, sometimes to the detriment of his bandmates. He soon started talking about The Smashing Pumpkins’ internal problems – how James Iha and D’Arcy Wretzky dated, but broke up and about Jimmy Chamberlin’s drug addiction.
When it came time to record the group’s second album, Billy Corgan relocated the band to Georgia.
“Corgan laid down the law: Either shape up or ship out.” – Rolling Stone Magazine
Rolling Stone reported in 1993, “Aside from the lower production costs, they chose to record in Atlanta on the theory that Chamberlin would have a hard time attracting his usual coterie of hard-core partyers there. The theory was wrong. Buckling under the pressure, Chamberlain would show up sometimes too wasted to play and once disappeared for five days. Corgan laid down the law: Either shape up or ship out. Chamberlin shaped up in a rehab clinic.”
Jonathan Melvoin Joins The Smashing Pumpkins
Jonathan Melvoin was a later arrival to the band, first joining in late 1995 as a touring keyboardist. He had an impressive resume up until this point in his career.
The tour to support the band’s third album was especially difficult for Chamberlain whose father passed away while the band was on the road. It was thought this upsetting event may have played some part in having the drummer go back to his old ways and taking Melvoin with him.
Melvoin’s sister told Rolling Stone Magazine that her brother was not an addict before the tour, “The only thing I can speculate is that somehow, someway, Jonathan developed this incredible jones with Jimmy on this tour.”
Corgan admitted to MTV in the fall of 1996 that he and the band believed that Chamberlin’s drug use was not that serious, “We were really under the impression that he was having his little kinda weekend warrior blowouts, but that was basically under control.”
“Jonathan was fine, but Jimmy was definitely out of it.” – Billy Corgan
There were several warning signs of what was coming on this tour. The Smashing Pumpkins started touring Asia in January 1996. At the band’s show in Bangkok, Thailand, there was an incident that Corgan would allude to, according to starla.org, “Jonathan was fine, but Jimmy was definitely out of it.”
Billy Corgan warned Melvoin that if he had another slip-up on tour, he’d be fired.
Two months later, The Smashing Pumpkins had to postpone several shows in New Zealand and Australia following the death of Jimmy Chamberlain’s father.
Jimmy Chamberlin and Jonathan Melvoin Found Unresponsive
In May, the band was in Lisbon, Portugal on their European tour when Jimmy and Jonathan were found unresponsive outside of their hotel and rushed to a local hospital.
The band fired Melvoin, but told him he wouldn’t leave the band until they finished their European tour since they didn’t have a stand-in. The band was successful at keeping the news under the radar and even offered to postpone subsequent dates so Chamberlain could get help, but he claimed he was fine.
Corgan recalled to MTV, “We had a long comical talk where they told us, ‘No it will never happen again and we are really sorry. We realize we are destroying our lives here.’ Jonathan is like, ‘I have a baby and a wife and responsibilities and I’m so grateful for the opportunity.’ Jimmy is like, ‘Yeah I have so much to lose and we’re really sorry.'”
About a week later, tragedy struck during the band’s show in Dublin, Ireland. During the band’s performance of “Bullet with Butterfly Wings”, a 17 year old teenager in attendance named Bernadette O’Brien was crushed in the crowd, suffering internal injuries and succumbing to her injuries in the hospital.
The band, horrified at the news, put out a statement sharing their thoughts and sent flowers to her funeral. The band’s planned show in Belfast was cancelled following the incident.
Jonathan Melvoin Gets One More Chance
Following their European tour, the band opted not to fire Melvoin as Corgan liked him too much and thought he deserved another chance.
Tragedy struck on July 12th when the band was in New York City to play Madison Square Garden, a huge feat that most bands would never experience.
Ahead of their show at the Garden, both Chamberlin and Melvoin were staying at a different hotel than the rest of the band, The Regency in Manhattan.
Jonathan Melvoin Suffers Overdose
MTV news reported that the pair returned to the hotel and headed to Melvoin’s room around 11pm at night. It was believed that Melvoin overdosed due to a lethal combination of drugs and alcohol in the early hours of the morning the next day. Chamberlin passed out, and when he woke up, he discovered that Melvoin was unresponsive and called 911, but it was too late.
Melvoin passed away at the age of 34. Corgan was notified by the band’s touring manager. D’Arcy, James and Billy were taken to the 19th Precinct Police Station and questioned by the police before being released.
Three days after his passing, a funeral was held for Melvoin. None of the surviving members of The Smashing Pumpkins were invited to the funeral. Jimmy Chamberlin was arrested for criminal possession of a controlled substance.
“We decided to sever our relationship with our friend and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin.” – The Smashing Pumpkins
Five days after the death of Jonathon Melvoin, the band announced that Jimmy Chamberlin was out of the group, releasing a statement that read, “We decided to sever our relationship with our friend and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin.”
The group’s tour didn’t resume until August, while they searched for a new drummer and keyboardist. The band eventually landed Dennis Flemoin of the Frogs to fill in as the touring keyboardist, while Filter drummer Matt Walker filled in for Chamberlain.
“We fired the guy to save his life.” – Billy Corgan
Corgan defended the band’s decision to fire the drummer, “We fired the guy to save his life. We could not continue thinking, ‘Hmm, maybe he’ll get better.’ We were criticized for being intolerant and not helping Jimmy when he needed us most. Believe me, the guy couldn’t have had any more chances… For everyone’s safety and mental health stability, we had to part company.”
Ahead of the MTV VMA’s in 1996, an award show that saw the Pumpkins win 7 awards, the surviving members talked openly about their struggles with Melvoin and Chamberlain. Corgan told the network, “We faced the Boogie Man and you know what, it’s fine, we’re totally fine. The band sounds great and we are going to go on tour and you know what, it’s not going to be sad, it’s going to be exactly the opposite. We are going to go out and have a good time.”
Following Melvoin’s death, tributes poured in. Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan penned the hit song, “Angel” the following year after reading about Melvoin’s death in Rolling Stone Magazine.
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