Billy Corgan Waxes Poetic On The Pumpkins' Split

Billy Corgan, perhaps unhappy with the short spurt of press that he received when he announced that he was working on a solo album last month, has taken it upon himself to stir up some trouble. Corgan took to his web blog earlier this week to expose the "real" reason that the Smashing Pumpkins broke up four years ago.

As then-distraught Pumpkins fans will remember, Corgan initially made a public announcement of his band's break-up, saying that he was disbanding the project because he was tired of fighting against "the Britneys of the world." That excuse seemed a little flimsy when, a year or so later Corgan announced the advent of his new band Zwan, who also had to battle the "Britneys" for a piece of the music retail pie. Corgan broke up Zwan last fall, citing that "My heart was in Smashing Pumpkins. I really enjoyed my experience with Zwan, but at the end of the day, without that sense of deeper family loyalty, it just becomes like anything else."

Uh-huh. So, if you loved the Smashing Pumpkins so much, why'd you break them up in the first place, buddy? As it turns, out, Corgan is now claiming that he didn't break the Smashing Pumpkins up at all — that plug was pulled by another member of the band.

"I am going to share some things with you that you have never heard me say," Corgan posted on his website. "That doesn't mean I'm rewriting history; that means that I'm going to tell you the truth about who I am and what I believe in my heart. A lot of things that I have said through the years seemed confusing, like I was hiding something, and oftentimes I was. "Why," you might ask. Many times I hid things to protect my band mates."

OK, take a deep breath...

"The truth of the matter is [guitarist] James Iha broke up the Smashing Pumpkins. Not me, not [drummer] Jimmy [Chamberlain] , but James. Did it help that [bass player] D'Arcy got fired for being a mean-spirited drug addict who refused to get help? No, that didn't help keep the band together, not at all. It made it very hard to go on, but we soldiered through it even through our hearts were broken. But D'Arcy didn't break up the band, we didn't let her."

Corgan goes on to explain that he was too loyal to Iha to continue on without him. He also expressed heartbreak over the fact that Iha thanked D'Arcy from the stage at the Pumpkins' last show, but paid no tribute to either himself or Chamberlain.

"We all deserve to flourish and know happiness and joy," Corgan concluded. "That is my new dream. The Smashing Pumpkins gave me that and I am eternally grateful."

There's no word on why Corgan decided to out Iha as the culprit right now, but we're not going to speculate on what goes on inside that big bald head. Iha has since moved on and has joined A Perfect Circle. In addition to his solo album, Corgan is preparing to publish a book of poetry.