It was an incredibly sad time way back in 2000 when frontman Billy Corgan announced that the Smashing Pumpkins were disbanding. The band called it quits December of 2000. But as early as May, Corgan already made his announcement on a live radio interview.

The split was regarded as such a shame by fans worldwide. The band Smashing Pumpkins did contribute a lot of hits to the music scene during its stint from 1988 up to 2000. Among the strong albums of Smashing Pumpkins are Siamese Dream, Pisces Iscariot, and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. They even delved into composing the track "Eye" for the original soundtrack of the film Lost Highway.

The band's stronger studio albums brought forth tracks like Disarm, Today, Cherub Rock, Landslide, Zero, Bullet with Butterfly Wings, Tonight Tonight, and the ever popular 1979.

Vocalist Billy Corgan is actually pretty much the one responsible for the lyrics to most of the songs done by the band. Take Today, for example. Corgan wrote the lyrics to Today when he was experiencing a dark time in his life. He was actually contemplating suicide at one point in his life. And writing the lyrics to Today had been therapeutic for him.

The lyrics to Disarm, another popular Smashing Pumpkins song, were also written by Corgan. While the lyrics may imply that the song is about abortion, Corgan reveals this is most certainly not what the track is about. Corgan basis for his lyrics here is his problematic childhood.

Any guesses on who wrote Bullet with Butterfly Wings? Yes, it's still Billy Corgan indeed. This time around, the lyrical content of Bullet with Butterfly Winds impressed millions of fans worldwide, that the single itself peaked at the 2nd spot on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. Speculations on what the lyrics mean have been offered by people. Some even say that the track is a reference to Kurt Cobain's suicide. Again, this interpretation is not true, as explained by Corgan himself.

The lyrics to both Tonight Tonight and Zero were also written by Corgan himself. With Tonight Tonight in particular, Corgan prepared the lyrics with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in mind for the strings portion of the track.

Nothing definite has been offered to explain the split of the band. Some went as far as saying that the split was caused by a falling out Corgan had with guitarist James Iha. Although this was a popular speculation, it was not confirmed as fact at all.

But the split did provide the band members opportunities to do things they've always wanted to do. Corgan, for example, took the time apart as a chance to compose lyrics for his own solo album TheFutureEmbrace. The album was released in June 2005. However, it was met with mixed reviews that Corgan decided to stop his solo pursuit.

Still, after attempting to compose lyrics for his own tracks, Corgan reached the decision to reunite the members of Smashing Pumpkins once again. As announced, the band's first appearance will take place in Paris, France on May 22, 2007. Although this date has been finalized already, only Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin have confirmed their commitment to this comeback tour. D'arcy Wretzky hasn't given her confirmation yet, while James Iha already confirmed that he will not be participating in this reunion performance at all.

Despite rumors of the falling out, it would be really hard to picture the Smashing Pumpkins without James Iha. But don't fret on that piece of bad news too much, because there's another piece of good news! The band will be releasing their latest album, Zeitgeist, this July 10! At least the band still gives their fans something to look forward to!