Billy Corgan insists Smashing Pumpkins won’t invite original bassist D’Arcy Wretzky back into the band.
The 51-year-old frontman is currently on a North American tour with original bandmates Jimmy Chamberlin, James Iha and Jeff Schroeder, and has opened up about the absence of D’Arcy and how the rest of the band tried to "rebuild the bridge" with her, but got nowhere.
In an interview with US radio station 98 Rock, he spilled: "We spent two years trying to rebuild the bridge with her, and, at the end of the day, she chose not to be involved.
"We made every effort to involve her, including offering her the ability that she does not even have to be on the tour. She could show up at any time, she could play as much as she wanted to play."
Corgan claims that they’d advised the 50-year-old musician that she’d probably not be able to perform all of their songs live because of her almost 20-year absence from the stage, and how in the end they decided it was best to "move on".
He added: "She insisted that even though she hasn’t been on stage in 19 years, that she should play every song …
"And we were, like, ‘This is just an unrealistic thing for somebody who hasn’t been on stage for 19 years – to expect you to play a three-hour show.’
"What it came down to is that she didn’t really wanna be involved. It was like a game of chicken and, eventually, we called her bluff and we made a decision to move on."
D’Arcy lashed out at Corgan and the reunion as a whole amidst a bitter row between the two parties in February.
Reflecting on when they started talking again in 2006, D’Arcy – who left the group after 11 years in 1999 – said: "I just was so out of that world for the longest time, I wasn’t aware of a lot of the crazy stuff, like he supports Trump. What? The shapeshifting thing, I honestly think he may have a brain tumour. He’s always been insufferable."
Smashing Pumpkins ‘move on’ from D’Arcy Wretzky feud
