Microsoft Music Online - 1/14/97
By — Sorelle Saidman
Edited by Jaan Uhelszki
Most of the Smashing Pumpkins have just lived through a tumultuous year — one did not — and while it's unlikely to get any worse than last year's heroin death of touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin and the subsequent firing of drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, it isn't getting much better.
After months of speculation, singer Billy Corgan's wife, Chris, has filed for divorce after 3 ½ years of marriage. And two days after receiving seven Grammy nominations, the band launched a lawsuit against their publishing company, Chrysalis Music.
The fiercely private Corgan told Spin magazine last June, "There is not and will not be any public record on my marriage. That's one thing I have to draw lines around." But there is now. On December 29, Christine Fabian filed divorce papers with the Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago which cite "irreconcilable differences" and contend the couple has been living apart for six months. The cracks in the relationship were apparent at one concert last August when Corgan dedicated the song "Muzzle" to his wife.
The Smashing Pumpkins' multi-million dollar lawsuit against Chrysalis Music, the company that co-owns and administers the rights to the band's songs, was filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court January 9. It seeks to have their four-album contract with the company thrown out. The suit alleges that the Pumpkins entered into a 32-song publishing deal with Chrysalis in 1992, but after delivering four albums with twice that many songs, the band was told by Chrysalis that they still owed the company one more album.
The Pumpkins are on the last leg of touring and are scheduled to finish up Feb. 1 in Charlotte, NC.