Billy Corgan debuted new Smashing Pumpkins song inspired by Highland Park shooting at benefit show

Gaia Writer

Billy Corgan debuted a new Smashing Pumpkins song, "Photograph," inspired by the tragic July 4 mass shooting in Highland Park, IL, Stereogum reports. Billy has lived in Highland Park for years, and owns and sometimes performs solo shows at his tea house, Madame Zuzu's, which reopened in the neighborhood in 2020. He debuted "Photograph" during a benefit show for victims of the shooting, "Together and Together Again," that Madame Zuzu's hosted on Wednesday night (7/27). "This is my reaction, I guess you could say, to what happened," Corgan said. "I don't know if it's a good song or a bad song, but it certainly expresses the way that I feel."

"So in the opening scene, I'm explaining to somebody that I found a photograph of us standing in the spot where this horrible thing happened," he continued. "It's as simple as that, how something so simple as a photograph taken on a beautiful day right over here by the ice cream shop where we go sometimes for a fancy sorbet and suddenly you look at a photograph and suddenly it has meaning. My god, we were in that spot."

While Billy played a mostly solo set for "Together and Together Again," he also brought out longtime Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and touring bassist Sierra Swan (who also played a set with her father Billy Swan), and together they played another new song, "Scimitar." Billy closed his set with a cover of Jane's Addiction's "Jane Says," joined by Jane's frontman Perry Farrell, who's in Chicago to play Lollapalooza with Porno for Pyros, who are replacing Jane's on the lineup.

Watch the show in full on YouTube; "Photograph" begins around 1:37:00, and "Scimitar" around 2:17:30.

Smashing Pumpkins and Jane's Addiction have a huge arena tour lined up this fall, with support from Poppy. They'll play two NYC-area shows, at Elmont's UBS Arena on October 14 and at Madison Square Garden on October 19. See all dates below.

The Smashing Pumpkins / Jane's Addiction -- 2022 Tour Dates
10/02 - American Airlines Center - Dallas, TX*
10/03 - Toyota Center - Houston, TX*
10/05 - Moody Center - Austin, TX*
10/07 - Amalie Arena - Tampa, FL*
10/08 - Hard Rock Casino - Hollywood, FL*
10/10 - Bridgestone Arena - Nashville, TN*
10/11 - State Farm Arena - Atlanta, GA*
10/13 - Mohegan Sun - Uncasville, CT*
10/14 - UBS Arena - Belmont Park, NY*
10/16 - TD Garden - Boston, MA*
10/18 - Capital One Arena - Washington, DC*
10/19 - Madison Square Garden - New York City, NY*
10/21 - Wells Fargo Center - Philadelphia, PA*
10/22 - PPG Paints Arena - Pittsburgh, PA^
10/24 - Scotiabank Arena - Toronto, ON*
10/26 - Bell Center - Montreal, QC*
10/27 - Centre Videotron - Quebec City, QC*
10/29 - Rocket Mortage Fieldhouse - Cleveland, OH^
10/30 - Fiserv Forum - Milwaukee, WI*
11/01 - Enterprise Center - St. Louis, MO*
11/02 - Little Caesars Arena - Detroit, MI*
11/04 - Xcel Energy Center - St. Paul, MN*
11/05 - United Center - Chicago, IL*
11/07 - Ball Arena - Denver, CO*
11/09 - Spokane Arena - Spokane, WA*
11/11 - Rogers Arena - Vancouver, BC*
11/12 - Climate Pledge Arena - Seattle, WA*
11/13 - Moda Center - Portland, OR*
11/15 - Chase Center - San Francisco, CA*
11/16 - Honda Center - Anaheim, CA*
11/18 - Footprint Center - Phoenix, AZ*
11/19 - Hollywood Bowl - Los Angeles, CA*

* - w/ Poppy
^ - w/ Meg Myers