Rock star Billy Corgan has broken his silence regarding the events that took place last Saturday at the ECW television taping in Peoria, IL. The following is a transcript of his comments on the incident, which was recently covered on MTV, and will air, in its entirety, this Friday during ECW on TNN.

"Let me start by saying that this incident with "Lou E. Imitation" is a complete outrage.  For weeks I had been looking forward to singing the national anthem in front of the good people of Peoria, Illinois, an honor bestowed on me by Paul Heyman himself, who had personally invited me to open the show last Saturday night.  ECW is my favorite promotion in the world, and never having sung our national anthem in public before, it was an opportunity I just couldn’t say no to.

It started out to be a great night, getting the chance before the show to talk to some of my favorite wrestlers, great guys like Jerry Lynn, Rob Van Dam, The Sandman and Justin Credible.  I was nervous about doing a great rendition of the anthem, but looked forward to sitting back after I sang to watch the show.  So after the warm reception I received from the crowd when I was announced as a surprise guest, what followed was like a bucket of cold water.  Before I could play a note I was attacked by Lou “I used to be the Sign Guy but the Dudley’s left me behind” Dangerously and his band of reckless thugs, Steve Corino, Scotty Anton, and Jack Victory.

It was, needless to say, a unwarranted intrusion upon my performance, and an insult that won’t be easily forgotten.  Lou may be the greatest manager in sports entertainment, but he is a no class individual who should be ashamed to call himself an American.  Hopefully the fans will get the chance to judge this entire situation for themselves Friday night on TNN"

You can read MTV.com's coverage of the confrontation by clicking here.

tick-tock the rumours are flying flick-flack but who knows the windpipe cracked and that nobody gives a rat's ass piddle-dum-tweedle-see I told you but nobody would listen all you hear is a lot of wishin soot-soot-beedle-bum and now I'm down in the land of swan song and world war gunners reading racy novels to kill the time-time gotta keep it off my mind-mind so let the games begin or did they already start-start to become annoying boy you gotta-getta a problem mister but I am queer as a 5 legged steer-fear-seer says the fisherman just fishin for wishes and pretty girls da-da-dum-dum it's just that all my wishes are not yours but many of yours are mine but it's all good-good-good smiles from ear to ear don't get lost in the maze of haze and purple smoke cause it's a psychadelic shack of love and muzak hold your breath it's comiing soon but not how you imagine in june-june did somebody say it was july?...poppa ow mow mow (look it up!)...xo

with only a limited time remaining, the tapes are still flying...some tapes are in such poor condition that we are cooking 'em up in the oven, but hey the music is still cool...the sun is shining outside but the florescent lights almost do the trick, plus we have the orgone meters set to full so we look almost real...soon we start gearing up for the summersalt tour in canada dry, and I suppose we might actually rehearse for a change so get your signs requesting towers of rabble and soma ready cause we can still read...after that comes the taping of vh-1 storytellers which of course will be full of lies because no one certainly knows what these songs are about, certainly not the singer...we have begun to prepare for the storytellers by finishing the much rumored jack-o-lantern suite, almost 8 1/2 years in the making...the story of the writing of the suite could probably take up the entire hour of the program, between telling the story of meeting the indian sage, the missoula mystic, and the tuscaloosa titan in the barrelhouse barn and finding a rusty guitar in a corner...my fingers just bled until I found the right notes, but I'll save all that for the taping...hope to see you there...

happy to report that there are some 10-14 tracks that are in some sort of shape or another…it’s sometimes hard to jog the memory of what we were thinking or doing at any given moment because some of these songs haven’t been worked on in over a year…but now is the right time because after the band splits it is not the kind of thing you want to try to finish in 10 years or so when we go ahead and put out that penultimate box set…so we blow the dust off the guitars and tune up rusty strings and try to make some more emotionless music…er, I mean heartfelt and deep music that is obviously emotional…what else do you want to know…I can tell you that if you want to solve a puzzle you must first understand the point of the puzzle…so what is the point of this puzzle…to confuse? enlighten? enrage? or just titillate…or could it just be for fun, because to save one’s soul you must first learn how to laugh… please understand that I am laughing, not at you, but with you,and I certainly am laughing at myself, so please put your hearts together and laugh with me…I put a little sunshine here between the cracks so you can see that you are inside a box…I of course am trapped in the box you stare at and cannot leave…admission is free to all those that are…(drumroll please)…free!…oh and another thing or two…please check out pumpkins radio which has been carefully collected to draw you deeper…there is also another chapter of the friends and enemies of modern music featuring glass and the machines of god floating around in space somewhere and I will try to wrench it out to you soon…I know you just cannot wait! with the same baited breath that I had when I cared, er or when I dared, or shall I say when I was wuzing my way across the crossings… tracks laid bare for all to laugh at…so you see it really is all a joke, but the joke is not on you or me but probably them, I suppose…but I can’t say for sure…till then s.r.’s…

xo

Australasian Tour Petition

Eager Australasian fans of the Smashing Pumpkins are expecting a response from the head Pumpkins himself, Billy Corgan. Their petition for an Australian and New Zealand tour has, sources say, reached the band. They are currently in the middle of finishing off tracks for the as-yet-unnamed disc of Machina outtakes.

The band is booked throughout August, September and October playing in Canada, Europe and the UK. Other dates have not been announced or confirmed - and the increasingly imminent break up of the band has meant nearly all shows have been sold out.

Meanwhile, 'a million miles and a thousand smiles' away, the large group of hopeful supporters continues to gather support. Nearly two thousand names have been collected - more are pouring in. Publicity from national youth radio network Triple J as well as local street media has helped. Organizers are confident of a positive outcome soon - be it a tour or even an acknowledgment from the band.

Sign the petition now, or find out more at:
http://come.to/australiapumpkins

Beasties, Beck, Rage, Foo, Peppers, And Pumpkins Revisited On 'Tibet' DVD

A blockbuster lineup topped by the Beastie Boys, Beck, Rage Against The Machine, the Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Smashing Pumpkins will be featured on a remixed, remastered version of the DVD documentary Free Tibet, set for release from Palm Pictures on August 29.

The release revisits the first Tibetan Freedom Concert, held in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park over two days in June 1996 and adds bonus content like a version of the Beasties' "Root Down" from the New York City Tibetan Freedom Concert and audio commentary from B-Boy Adam YauchSpike Jonze. Dolby Digital audio has also been enhanced for the new release. Other acts spotlighted include Bjork, the Fugees, Pavement, Sonic Youth, A Tribe Called Quest, and blues legend John Lee Hooker.

San Francisco's Tibetan Freedom Concert -- spearheaded by the Beastie Boys to raise awareness about the political struggles of the Tibetan people -- was the single biggest American benefit concert since 1985's Live Aid.

Meanwhile, a new book, Tibetan Freedom Concerts 1996-1999, When The Iron Bird Flies, documenting the movement through the lens of photographer Danny Clinch, is also in the works. Look for that some time this fall.

Sabbath's Iommi Taps Grohl, Corgan, More For Solo Album

Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan and Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters are among the guests who'll be heard on the long-awaited first solo album from Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, which is due out on October 10.

A spokesperson for Divine Recordings, the label issuing the LP, told MTV News that "Iommi" will also feature guest shots from Phil Anselmo of Pantera, Henry Rollins, and System Of A Down's Serj Tankian as well as Skin of Skunk Anansie, Peter Steele from Type O Negative, and The Cult's Ian Astbury.

In an interesting twist for Corgan, Divine Recordings is owned by former Pumpkins manager Sharon Osbourne and her husband Ozzy (see "Ozzy And Wife Hook Up 'Divine' Label Deal"). Ms. Osbourne and Corgan are currently at odds over issues stemming from the demise of their brief relationship in January, which sparked several rounds of verbal sparring. A lawsuit is still pending.

Corgan was well acquainted with Iommi long before signing with Osbourne Management, as he recorded his tracks well over a year ago. The album has been in the works since early 1998.

Other releases on Divine include last month's Black Sabbath tribute "Nativity In Black II" and the first full-length from Montreal's Slaves On Dope, a band currently making the rounds on Ozzfest 2000. The group's "Inches From The Mainline" will hit stores on October 3, according to a label publicist.

Another Sabbath alumnus readying a solo release (though not for Divine) is drummer Bill Ward, who's currently mixing his latest effort, "Beyond Ashton." Ward's official Web site reports that he hopes to have the album out by mid-August.

hello children, starseekers, mystics, clowns, predators and nymphs,
howareyouiamfinethanks! first let me amble to you that I am sorry I have not communicated more as of late…after the deeply emotional sendoff of what was possibly our last ever show in america (not!) I retreated my person into andalusia to find tango and flamenco and spanish beauty much sought after in the midwest…after tripping through our new video shoot in london I zipped to tokyo brightly and did not have a computer the whole time…even now as I write this on someones faded powerbook (who I believe used to chair a kiddieporn startup) I regret the omission of my oh so important cloying barbarianisms to the fitful faitful and the frail faithless…our tour of japan was a huge success, the biggest we have ever had, so we send our heartfelt thanks out to all the fans who came to the shows, many traveling by bullet train to see multiple dates…we are humbled by the grace of you…we hoped to repay a little back last night by playing a two-set show, the first acoustic and the second a full electric set…arigato gazimas nippon!…what else can I tell you? jonas akerlund directs the new video (try try try) with filming having been done in london and stockholm…we aren't very bright…all prophecies thus far have come true…we are going to korea for the first and last time and are looking forward to play a place that as recently as 1995 banned our records…it should be interesting as it is always an honor to meet fans in a country none of us have ever been to…the demotion of evil continues to move forward on this humble planet, and it is a good thing…the children of this new world, their dna unscrambled to be explained, will hopefully never tolerate the stupidity of generation present and past…may the joy and innocence of youth transform this place holy, and let no tear be shed for we are all responsible, to take credit and blame…traveling this earth as we do, we are lucky to play part and witness how the western conception of the world, with it's mcdonalds materialism, doesn't mean so much as family, life, and tradition…may the truth echo in your ears like it does mine…yes, only love will win…it always does…
xo