The Smashing Pumpkins were one of the more interesting bands in the US’s alternative rock scene throughout the 90’s. Forming in Chicago in 1988 and breaking through with 1993’s ‘Siamese Dream’, Corgan and co. set themselves apart from the pack of American grunge bands with their ambitious approach to songwriting and theatre with ‘Mellon Collie’ in 1995. A 28-track double-album with conceptual elements, diverse instrumentation and Corgan’s iconic nasal vocals, the album brought Smashing Pumpkins seven Grammy nominations. Five singles released from the album, including hits ‘Zero’, ‘Tonight, Tonight’, and ‘Bullet With Butterfly Wings’ which won the Grammy in the Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal category.

Corgan, who wrote the majority of The Smashing Pumpkins’ music, gave ‘Mellon Collie’ a new lease of life in 2025 with its operatic reimagining. Working with Grammy-nominated conductor James Lowe, the music has been re-composed for the full 60-piece orchestra to back Corgan’s vocals. To give it its full title, the show ‘A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness Featuring Billy Corgan’ had a 7 show residency at Chicago’s Lyric Opera House last November.

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It was announced today that the show will be going international this September, starting with two nights at the Royal Festival Hall in London’s Southbank Centre. From there, it goes to Belgium, France and Spain. Guest vocalists are arranged, with Ed Parks performing in London, Antwerp and Paris, while Madrid’s show has Sydney Mancasola, Zoie Reams, Dominick Valdes Chenes and Dean Murphy. The full list of shows is below.

September:
• 1 – Royal Festival Hall, London
• 2 – Royal Festival Hall, London
• 6 – Queen Elisabeth Hall, Antwerp (two shows)
• 8 – Salle Pleye, Paris
• 9 – Salle Pleye, Paris
• 11 – Palacio Vistalegre, Madrid

A press release describes the shows as looking to “re-imagine and pay homage to the era-defining album of the same name, whilst also expanding the definition and intention of opera”. Corgan, who is now also a popular podcaster and promotes his own wrestling company, posted on social media site X to say he was “so excited that this is finally announced! Thank you to all that have asked and are interested in attending. I guarantee you won’t be sorry if you do…”. He also took to Instagram to share his thoughts on the unique fusion of rock and opera in the concert, writing “opera and rock both tell stories of heightened emotions, and I am excited for both fans of my music and traditional opera fans to hear some truly inspired work; for the balance here is to honor both traditions in a magisterial way.”

Pre-sale tickets for the London shows go on sale tomorrow, Tuesday the 12th of May, at 10am, with general sale commencing at 10am on Thursday the 14th. A 30th anniversary reissue of ‘Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness’ released in January this year, with The Smashing Pumpkins also due to drop a 35th anniversary version of debut album ‘Gish’ on the 29th of May on Corgan’s web store.