Rick Rubin is the man presiding over the return of Smashing Pumpkins with Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlain – but sadly no D’arcy Wretzky – currently holed up in his Malibu studio. There will also be live dates.
“I’ve had a crazy life,” Corgan reflects in a lengthy Instagram post. “Good crazy, but crazy nonetheless.”
No one could argue with that! Corgan goes on to address a recently posted picture of him sticking a needle in his arm – “It was an IV full of vitamins and homeopathy to assist in getting over this vicious flu,” he clarifies – but not the decision to recruit a new bassist instead of welcoming D’arcy, who was up for it, back into the fold.

I've had a crazy life. Good crazy, but crazy nonetheless. For example. I saw this picture of myself the other day. Besides having a generally good idea of when it was taken (1993 or 1994) I don't remember actually taking the photo, nor do I remember countless others like it between the years 1991-2004. Now, perhaps that says something about my inability or desire to remember, but I'd argue it's an unfortunate result of the blur of those years. Which leads me to this time, or this moment, where like so many, I share a window (curated as it is) into my crazy life. As an example, we are currently in the studio with Rick Rubin. But unless I show you a picture of Rick sitting Buddha-like at a mixing desk, you probably wouldn't know that. Or when I, in a very naive way, post a shot with a needle in my arm and ramble on about making peace with God and time left on dear 'ol Earth, it sent some signal to friends and associates alike that I was sick or wanted other's sympathy. (As fact, it was an IV full of vitamins and homeopathy to assist in getting over this vicious flu). So yes, was sick, and no, not serious in any way nor would I share such info here because this window I'd prefer to be one where you see the sunlight streaming through. The only addendum to that is when I saw how others were reacting to their perception of my misguided and poorly worded message, I chose not to react in kind; in essence I let the shadows cast be whatever you-they-them want to believe. Because we live now in a world where perception often outweighs reality, and that's fine. So to that, here's a new pic I just took of me with my sandy-brown, curly hair flowing in the studio breeze. Lots of love, WPC #wpc

A post shared by WilliamPatrickCorgan (@williampcorgan) on Jan 27, 2018 at 10:23am PST