Corgan, who is currently plugging his new solo album 'TheFutureEmbrace' in the UK, ran the ad in today's Chicago Tribune, saying he wants his "band back".
The ad looks like a tentative first step, but industry sources are saying that Smashing Pumpkins MKII is far from a done deal. However, Corgan said yesterday that "the door is clearly open" to bring back the band whose last effort was the double album 'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness', best known for its hit single 'Tonight Tonight'.
While singer-guitarist Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin remain friends, things are less certain regarding the other two members of the line-up. Guitarist James Iha and bassist D'Arcy Wretzky left the band on poor terms.
In the ad, Corgan says that he has made plans to renew and revive the Smashing Pumpkins.
"I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams. In this desire I feel I have come home again."
Founded in Chicago by Corgan and Iha in 1987, the Smashing Pumpkins went on to become one of the most commercial successful indie guitar bands of the 1990s, selling more than 25m albums.
Corgan said the journey to taking out the ad began after he and Chamberlin listened to unreleased Pumpkins tracks for an internet release last year.
The statement in the ad goes on to say that he Corgan naively tried to start a new band, called Zwan, but found that his heart was not in it.
"I moved away to pursue a love that I once had but got lost. So I moved back home to heal what was broken in me, and to my surprise I found what I was looking for. I found that my heart is in Chicago, and that my heart is in the Smashing Pumpkins."
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