Release of Adore

Recorded following the death of Corgan’s mother and his divorce, 1998’s Adore represented a significant change of style from the Pumpkins’ previous guitar-based rock, veering into electronica. The record, cut with assistance from drum machines and studio drummers including Matt Walker, was infused with a darker aesthetic than much of the band’s earlier work. The group also modified its public image, shedding its alternative rock look for a more subdued appearance. Although Adore received favorable reviews and was nominated for Best Alternative Performance at the Grammy Awards, the album had only sold about 830,000 copies in the United States by the end of the year. The album nonetheless debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 and sold three times as many copies overseas. The band began a seventeen-date, fifteen-city charity North American tour in support of Adore . At each stop on the tour, the band donated 100 percent of ticket sales to a local charity organization. The tour’s expenses were entirely funded out of the band’s own pockets. All told, the band donated over $2.8 million to charity as a result of the tour. On October 31, 1998, during Halloween, the band opened for Kiss at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles , dressed in costume as the Beatles .