NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 19: Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins performs at Madison Square Garden on October 19, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Astrida Valigorsky/Getty Images)

Billy Corgan revealed that he enlisted the help of the FBI to keep the latest Smashing Pumpkins album from being leaked online, according to Stereogum. Last week was the final release of the group’s conceptual trilogy — Atum: Act Three. The new works are directly linked thematically to the Pumpkins’ 1995 double LP, Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness.

While appearing on Audacy’s Klein Ally Show, Billy Corgan explained the back story to the leak: “They were all probably the most catchy, single-y type songs. So it’s like, not only is it six months too early, you’re pretty much giving away the album before you even have a chance to set your feet on the ground. Somehow, some hacker was offering the files for money, and we could trace it, pay off, and keep it from leaking. The FBI got involved. . . I don’t know how they got what they got.”

Corgan added he paid the ransom for the tracks out of his own pocket, adding, “It was a mercenary person who had hacked somebody — I don’t want to say who — and they had other stuff from other artists. It wasn’t like some Pumpkins fan who was hellbent on breaking it on Reddit. Somehow, they gave some information that allowed the FBI to track them.”

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