Longtime guitarist for The Smashing Pumpkins, Jeff Schroeder, has released a statement announcing his exit from the band. The remaining members of the group have commented on his departure in a statement of their own.
The news came from a post on the band’s social media, which features both statements separately.
“It’s easy to say now that when I joined The Smashing Pumpkins in 2007 I had no idea what I was getting into. The opportunity seemed to have come out of nowhere.
I was at UCLA working on my doctorate in comparative literature when a close friend messaged me and said that The Smashing Pumpkins were looking for a guitar player.
Being a huge fan of the band, the audition was something I threw myself into. It was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life,” Schroeder wrote.
“The amount of incredible memories created over the last 16 years with the band are almost too numerous to quantify.
Although it was a very difficult decision to make, I’ve decided to leave the band to make some space to explore a slightly different path.
I want to thank Billy, Jimmy, James and Jack for being both wonderful bandmates and even better friends. I will absolutely miss sharing the stage with you. I wish the band all the success in the future. I will be watching and listening.”
Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin commented on Schroeder’s departure in their own statement, writing, “We thank Jeff for his ceaseless dedication to the band and our great fans.
Words can not express our gratitude and appreciation for the friend he is, and being there for SP in the good times and the tough times, too.”
See the post below.
As noted in his statement, Schroeder joined The Smashing Pumpkins in 2007 after Corgan and Chamberlin reunited to record Zeitgeist.
The guitarist played on every studio album they’ve released since then, and was the only official member of the band credited on 2014’s Monuments to an Elegy aside from Corgan.
The Smashing Pumpkins have a tour booked for the spring of 2024 in the U.K. and Ireland with Weezer. At this time, it’s unclear whether they will recruit another guitarist in Schroeder’s place for the tour. See all of the dates on their website.
Guns N’ Roses
Guns N’ Roses are probably one of the first bands that come to mind when thinking about lineup inconsistencies. For starters, the Appetite for Destruction lineup that they became famous for — Axl Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan, Steven Adler and Izzy Stradlin — was not actually the original lineup.
And then, of course, more and more members started quitting and getting fired, and by the end of the ’90s, Rose was the only member from the Appetite lineup left in the band.
As he took Guns through its lengthy Chinese Democracy era, there was a revolving door of musicians making contributions, including Buckethead, Josh Freese, Robin Finck, Chris Pitman and more.
Now, Rose is once again joined by Slash and McKagan, as well as Richard Fortus, Melissa Reese, Frank Ferrer and Dizzy Reed — who’s remained in the group since he was hired in the early ’90s.
We actually did an in-depth look at every musician who’s been an official member of GN’R, which you can check out here.