Billy Corgan eyes up Smashing Pumpkins for Las Vegas Sphere: "We just haven’t been asked yet"

26 May 2026, 10:42 | Updated: 26 May 2026, 11:04

By Jenny Mensah

The Tonight rocker revealed the band would love to celebrate their Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness album at the state-of-the-art venue.

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Billy Corgan says Smashing Pumpkins would love to play the Las Vegas Sphere.

The 1979 legends have yet to receive an offer to play the start-of-the-art venue, but the frontman says they'd be excited to celebrate their seminal double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness there.

Speaking about the chance to play the venue and follow in the footsteps of the likes of No Doubt, Eagles and U2, the he told KROQ: “It’s a no-doubter for us. We just haven’t been asked yet.

“See, if the Sphere came to us and said, ‘We’d love you to do all of Mellon Collie with that production.’ Now, that makes sense to me to do something like that, to build the show around the album.

"Then you have a chance to recast the songs and the music in a different dynamic.”

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The Tonight rocker has been celebrating the 1995 album with special orchestral dates in the States, which he's now bringing to the UK and Europe this year.

The critically acclaimed tour - titled A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness Featuring Billy Corgan and described as "an orchestral & operatic rendering" of the band's iconic 1995 double album - will come to this side of the pond, with dates that include two shows at London's Royal Festival Hall on the 1st and 2nd September.

The run will also see the Zero singer play dates in Belgium, France and Spain, with all the relevant ticket details here.

A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness featuring Billy Corgan UK & Europe poster. Picture: Press

A press release explains: "Composed by and featuring performances by Billy himself alongside world class soloists and orchestras, A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness Featuring Billy Corgan is a one-of-a-kind operatic and orchestral rendering of the album Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness. The opera re-imagines and pays homage to the era-defining album of the same name, whilst also expanding the definition and intention of opera."

Corgan who worked alongside GRAMMY-nominated conductor James Lowe, is also joined by vocalists Ed Parks (Baritone - London, Belgium + France), Sydney Mancasola (Soprano), Zoie Reams (Mezzo-Soprano), Dominick Valdes Chenes (Tenor) and Dean Murphy (Baritone - Spain only).

The costumes have also been designed by House of Gilles by Gilles Mendel and Chloé Mendel Corgan.

Billy Corgan says of the dates: “The success of translating Mellon Collie into operatic and classical form has been one of the most satisfying experiences of my life,” says Billy. “Where on each of the 7 sold out nights in Chicago we’d finish within the raucous wave of a standing ovation. So to now take it on the road, and to Europe, too says this magical dream doesn’t have to end.”

Conductor James Lowe adds: "It has been so gratifying to discover how the nuances and layers of Mellon Collie reveal themselves in fresh new ways in these symphonic, choral and operatic settings. To now have the opportunity to perform this work in Europe with world class musicians in such important venues is nothing short of thrilling."