Billy Corgan has revealed why ex-Hole bassist Mellisa Auf Der Maur is not a part of the highly-anticipated Smashing Pumpkins reunion.
Corgan spoke about the Auf Der Maur’s absence in an interview with NME: “I don’t have any ill will towards Melissa, but she never considered herself to be part of the unit and made it very clear that she didn’t ever want to be considered part of the unit posthumously.
“It was kind of like, ‘I’ll do this for this window’.”
The band dropped Shiny And Oh So Bright Vol. 1, their first album in 18 years to feature the band’s founding members Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin, and James Iha.
Auf Der Maur, who was the band’s bassist during the Machina tour in 1999 and performed the band’s departure show in 2000, was not invited to join the new line-up.
Instead, Corgan, Chamberlin, and Iha are joined on tour by longtime collaborating guitarist Jeff Schroeder and bassist Jack Bates, son of Joy Division’s Peter Hook.
Original bassist D’Arcy Wretzky is also notably absent in the line-up, following public feuds and fraught relations between her and other band members.
