The Smashing Pumpkins was an influential American alternative rock band which formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988.

Less influenced by punk than many of their contemporaries, the Pumpkins had a densely layered and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, power pop, psychedelic rock, shoegazer-style production and, in later recordings, electronica. The emotional tone of bandleader Billy Corgan’s songs ranged from angry (“Bullet with Butterfly Wings”) to dour (“Disarm”) to jubilant (“Cherub Rock”).

Selling more than 40-million albums world-wide, the Smashing Pumpkins were one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands of the 1990s, but internal fighting, diminishing sales, and cultural vitality hampered the band in their later years, leading to a 2000 break-up. Recently, Corgan has announced a desire to reform the band.