Billy Corgan forced to pay hacker to stop Smashing Pumpkins leaks
It has been revealed that Billy Corgan was forced to pay a hacker to stop them from leaking new Smashing Pumpkins music. The hacker managed to get hold of nine tracks from the final part of the group’s rock opera ATUM, which was released yesterday.
Frontman Billy Corgan explains that the hacker threatened to leak the recordings before the album’s drop date. “They were all probably the most catchy, single-y type songs,” Corgan told KROQ’s Klein/Ally Show. “You’re pretty much giving away the album before you even have a chance to set your feet into the ground.” ATUM serves as a sequel to classic double albums Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, released in 1995, and Machina/The Machines Of God, released in 2000.
The frontman added that he still doesn’t know how the hacker got hold of the tracks. Corgan was notified of the leak by a fan, who informed him that the hacker was “offering the files for money”. Determined to “stop the leak from happening”, Corgan paid for the files out of his own pocket. In the end, the hacker gave away “some information that allowed the FBI to track them,” though he still doesn’t know the result of the investigation.
Corgan went on to clarify that the hacker wasn’t some “Pumpkins fan that was hellbent on breaking it on Reddit” but somebody looking to make a profit from unsuspecting musicians. “They had other stuff from other artists,” Corgan said. “They had stuff that was shocking to me, classic stuff from bands of the past probably doing reissues. I don’t think any of that stuff has been leaked out, so whatever happened, it all got shut down.”
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