Melissa Auf der Maur, former bassist of both Smashing Pumpkins and Hole, has opened up about her surprise appearance at Lollapalooza 2026 alongside the Smashing Pumpkins.
Auf der Maur described how the reunion came about organically. She traced it back to a memoir event in Los Angeles where Billy Corgan was present as a supportive friend.
“It was a natural, healing and gorgeous reconnection that happened around the release of my ’90s rock memoir,” she said. “This past spring, I was scheduled to do a memoir event in Los Angeles, with Jennifer Finch (rest in peace) as my conversation partner. She called in sick that morning. Billy was planning on popping in as a friend to support me and my book.”
She went on to explain how Corgan extended the invitation to join the band on stage just moments before the event began.
“Just before we went on stage, he shared with me that the Pumpkins had confirmed headlining Lollapalooza in their hometown and said sweetly, ‘If you wanna join us for a song, please do,'” Auf der Maur recalled.
She then described the minimal preparation that preceded the high-profile performance. The experience confirmed her belief in the enduring nature of musical instinct.
“I arrived in Chicago the day of the Riviera warm-up show so we could soundcheck together,” she said. “Billy showed me the new twist on the ending lick, which took a couple minutes. We ran through the song one-and-a-half times. That was it. Part of me accepting the invitation was testing the theory that music is like riding a bike… the heartbeat and rhythmic feel is eternal. The fingers need a little awakening and refreshing, but otherwise I am ready.”
Reflecting on the emotional weight of the performances, Auf der Maur drew a distinction between the two shows she played.
“Playing on that stage, connecting with the band and the fans, is a way of kindling that magic, and it felt incredible,” she continued. “The Riviera, glorious, gorgeous theater, felt romantic, whereas Lollapalooza felt momentous, not only in scale, but in the return to those stages which the Pumpkins graced in 1994 and Hole in 1995.”
The Lollapalooza appearance marked a full-circle moment for Auf der Maur. Her entire career has been shaped by a series of pivotal connections to Billy Corgan and the world of ’90s alternative rock.
Auf der Maur first joined Hole in 1994, stepping in as bassist following the death of Kristen Pfaff. Corgan himself recommended her for the role. She spent five years with the band, contributing to one of the most turbulent and celebrated chapters in alternative rock history.
Her connection to the Smashing Pumpkins deepened in 1999, when Corgan called her again to replace departing bassist D’arcy Wretzky. Within a week of leaving Hole, Auf der Maur had joined the Pumpkins. She toured with them through 2000 before the band dissolved that same year.
The memoir that served as the catalyst for the Lollapalooza reunion is titled Even the Good Girls Will Cry. It revisits her years inside both bands and the broader alternative rock explosion of the 1990s. The project brought Corgan back into her orbit in a meaningful way, ultimately leading to the stage invitation that surprised fans and critics alike.
The reunion also carried a deeper biographical resonance. Auf der Maur’s relationship with Corgan stretches back to the early 1990s, when she first encountered him at a punk venue in her native Montreal. That initial meeting planted the seed for a friendship and professional bond that has now spanned more than three decades — and, as Lollapalooza 2026 demonstrated, shows no signs of fading.
