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 1993’s 'Siamese Dream.' In 1994 the band headlined Lolapalooza
and the following year they released their epic two disc cd 'Melancholy and the Infinite
Sadness.' The band was riding high and living the dream at least according to many outsiders,
but that wasn’t the case. During the band’s tour in 1996 to support their third release,
drummer Jimmy chamberlain and keyboardist johnathan melvoin were dabbling in drugs
resulting in deadly consequences. That’s what were going to discuss in today’s video.
Jimy Chamberlin’s days with the band date back to their early years when they
were made of 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.
Chamberlin would express 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" he'd recall.
Corgan would recall how he didn’t think Chamberlin initially was a good fit saying
He was wearing a pink t-shirt, he had stonewashed jeans, had a mullet haircut, was driving a 280Z,
and had yellow drums recalling "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. Chamberlain would join the band on their
debut album 'Gish.' But by the time the band began work on their second album siamese dream,
Corgan felt the band was on the verge of breaking up. 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. In the article Corgan was be quoted as saying.
"I hated all my friends, I hated myself, I hated the band." Corgan would enter 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 and Drummer Jimmy Chamberlin’s
drug addiction. He would tell the same publication "The idea that the stance was to tell the story
and force it into the open..but did it have the intended effect the interviewer would ask
corgan to which he’d respond “...no, in fact i think it killed the band.’
When it came time for the groups second album, In order to keep production costs low,
Corgan relocated the band to Georgia, but there was another reason for going there,
Chamberlain’s debilitating drug addiction. Rolling Stone would report in 1993 and i quote
"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, Chamberlin would show up sometimes too wasted too
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. It worked. Rolling stone would write.
Johnathan Melvoin, was a later arrival to the band first joining them in late 1995 as
a touring keyboardist. He had an impressive resume up until this point in his career
playing with musician prince and performing in a number of punk bands including the dickies..
Melvoin’ was exposed to music as a young age coming from a musical family. His father played
piano in the 80’s era group Wrecking Crew and most famously played with Tom Waits,
Frank Sinatra and john Lennon. He had twin sisters who would also play with prince.
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 the drummer back to his old ways & taking melvoin with him.
In fact Melvoin’s sister wendy would tell Rolling Stone Magazine that her brother was
not an addict before the tour recalling to the magazine “The only thing I can speculate is that
somehow, someway, Jonathan developed this incredible jones with Jimmy on this tour,”
Corgan for his part would admit to MTV in the fall of 1996 that he and the band believed that
Chamberlin’s drug use was not serious revealing we...were really under the impression that he
was having his little kinda weekend warrior blowouts, but that was basically under control.
We were being made to believe that we were being made to believe, that we were
being told the truth every step of the way. Which we later found out wasn't true at all.
There were several warnings signs of what was coming on this tour.In January of 1996 the
smashing pumpkins were touring Asia starting in Osaka, Japan on January 19th. Ten days later at
the band’s show in Bangkok Thailand there was an incident that Corgan would allude to according to
starla.org Corgan would recall "Jonathan was fine, but Jimmy was definitely out of it," The Smashing
Pumpkins leader would warn Melvoin that if he had another slip up on the tour he’d be fired.
Fast forward two months later to March of the same year and The Smashing Pumpkins
had to postpone several shows in New Zealand and Australia following the
death of Jimy Chamberlain’s father. The dates would be postponed to May of the same year.
In early May, the band was in Lisbon, Portugal when the second drug incident happened. Jimmy
and Jonathan would be found unresponsive outside of their hotel and rushed to a local hospital.
Corgan would recall what happened according to starla.org"Adrenaline shots to the heart,
the whole 'Pulp Fiction' bit," The band for their part would fire Melvoin, but tell him he wouldn’t
leave the band until they were finished their Euorpean tour since they didn’t have a standin.
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 would recall
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 would strike 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 succuming to them 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 would be cancelled following the incident. Following their European Tour the band
opted not to fire Melvoin as corgan liked him too much and thought he deserved another chance.
In early July it was reported that The Smashing Pumpkins would be filming their own version
of MTV Unplugged in their hometown of Chicago with the city’s symphony orchestra later that
month. Then tragedy struck. On July 12th when the band was in New York City to play Madison
Square Garden, a huge feet 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
Reagency in Manhattan. MTV news would report that the pair would return to the hotel and
head to Melvoin’s room at 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 awoke he discovered that Melvoin was unresponsive and called 911,
but it was too late. Melvoin would pass away at the age of 34. Corgan would be notified of what
happened by the band’s touring manager. And soon enough D’Arcy, James and billy would be
taken to the 19th precinct police station and questioned by police before being released.
Three days after his passing, a funeral would be held for Melvoin a service which saw none of the
surviving members of The Smashng Pumpkins invited. Chamberlin for his part would be arrested for
criminal possession of a controlled sustbance 5 days after the death of Melvoin the band
announce that 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 wouldn’t resume until August, while they searched for a new drummer and keyboardist. The
band would eventually land on Dennis Flemoin of the Frogs was going to fill as the touring
keyboardst for the band, while Filter drummer Matt Walker would fill in for chamberlain.
Corgan defended the band’s decision to fire Chamberlain saying "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. He used up all his chances plus five. For everyone's safety and mental health
stability, we had to part company." he'd say. 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 with Corgan telling the network 'We faced the Boogie Man and you know
what it's fine we are totally fine. The band sounds great and we are goin' to go on tour
and you know what its not going to be sad, it's goin' to be exactly the opposite.
We are goin' to go out and have a good time. Following Melvoin’s death, tributes would pore
in. Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan would pen the hit song Angel" the following year
about Melvoin after reading about his story in Rolling Stone magazine. That does it for today's
video guys thanks for watching and we'll see you again on rock n' roll true storeis. Take care.