Smashing Pumpkins turned their Lollapalooza headline set into a generational summit on Thursday (July 31), with Billy Corgan bringing out Olivia Rodrigo and Yungblud as surprise guests for a pair of nineties deep cuts in Chicago. Explore Olivia Rodrigo Smashing Pumpkins Yungblud See latest videos, charts and news
The set marked the Chicago-bred band’s first Lollapalooza headlining slot in 32 years — they last played the festival in 1994, during its original touring incarnation, on a bill alongside the Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest and Green Day. Corgan, a lifelong Chicagoan, had spent the week leading up to the performance staging a hometown celebration dubbed “Pumpkinpalooza,” including a sold-out underplay show at the 2,500-capacity Riviera Theatre, a merch pop-up near Grant Park, and a roving version of Madame Zuzu’s, the teahouse he owns with wife Chloé Mendel. Related Noah Kahan Pretends to Call Barack Obama to Revel in Finally Making Ex-Pres' 2026 Summer Playlist 'After 15 F--king Years!' Boy George Pulls Out of London Production of 'Jesus Christ Superstar' In Wake of Backlash to AI-generated 'We Will Dance Again' Song Eladio Carrión Reveals He 'Nearly Died' in Video Shoot With Cazzu: 'But We're Here & Alive'
Yungblud arrived first onstage, taking his spot less than an hour after his own festival set to sing “Luna,” the closing track from the band’s 1993 breakthrough Siamese Dream . The British rocker, dressed in black to match Corgan, handled the song’s soaring falsetto as Corgan backed him on guitar. “This is a f—ing dream come true,” Yungblud told the crowd.
Rodrigo followed , introduced by Corgan as “a very, very special guest.” She appeared in a sheer dress and knee-high stockings to sing “Thirty-Three,” the fifth single from the band’s 1995 double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness , with Corgan switching to acoustic guitar as the stage was bathed in red light.
View this post on Instagram The pairings carried a certain lineage. Rodrigo has been open about the influence nineties alt-rock had on her sound, and both guests represent chart eras the Pumpkins helped make possible. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness remains the band’s commercial high point — it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 1995 with 246,500 first-week units, the only Pumpkins album ever to top the chart, and was certified diamond by the RIAA for sales exceeding 10 million.
Its singles ran deep: “1979” became the band’s biggest Hot 100 hit at No. 12 and their only No. 1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, while “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” won the 1997 Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance. The album earned seven Grammy nominations in all. Siamese Dream , the source of “Luna,” has been certified four-times platinum.
Rodrigo, for her part, arrived as one of the defining pop breakouts of the decade. Her 2021 debut SOUR and its 2023 follow-up GUTS both entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1, and she has scored multiple Hot 100 chart-toppers, including “Drivers License,” “Good 4 U” and “Vampire.” Yungblud has been threading the same alternative lineage: he won his first Grammy earlier this year, for Best Rock Performance, for his rendition of “Changes” at Ozzy Osbourne̵…