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Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin's Smashing Pumpkins reunion started at a Rush concert

Wed, Jul 1, 2015@4:08PM | comments

Smashing Pumpkins' founder and frontman Billy Corgan revealed in a Periscope video last week that his recent reunion with drummer Jimmy Chamberlin started at a Rush concert. The video was partially transcribed by Alternative Press and included in this article:

... "When I wrote Jimmy the message saying, 'Would you consider coming back and jumping on this tour? We're kind of in a pickle here, we need somebody, and it just feels right to ask you right now. It's not something I've been sitting around ruminating on.' ... "So when I wrote that message, I was on my way to see Rush, and when he responded, I'm sitting there watching Rush. To give you a little context, in one of the early Pumpkins rehearsals, maybe the second, third, or fourth rehearsal, I don't remember, but Jimmy played something, and I just thought he was like every other drummed I worked with, whatever. He played something, and I said, 'Are you a Rush fan?' He was like, 'Oh yeah.' Typical Jimmy, he goes (mimics Jimmy's drumming with his voice). He plays five Neil Peart parts in quick succession, perfectly. I was like, 'You can't play like that unless you're pretty good.' That was the first time where he and I were like, there's another thing happening here, inter-personally. ...

Corgan is a huge Rush fan and famously appears in the Rush documentary Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage. He also had the honor of inducting Rush on the Hollywood Walk of Fame 5 years ago.

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