Billy Corgan [ tickets ], frontman for Smashing Pumpkins [ tickets ], said on Tuesday (5/23) that the band will break up at the end of this year. The announcement was made while Corgan was being interviewed on Los Angeles radio station KROQ.

Corgan told the station that plans to scrap the band have been in place since prior to the making of its latest album "MACHINA/the machines of God," released in February.

"We wanted to make one more album together," Corgan said. "That was the intention of getting [drummer] Jimmy [Chamberlin] back in the band … to make one more album and end on a good note with each other." Chamberlin was kicked out of the band in 1996 after being charged with heroin possession following the fatal overdose of Pumpkins touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin.

Corgan's plan to keep the original lineup intact for one last album and tour was waylaid last September when Pumpkins bassist D'Arcy Wretzky left the band to pursue an acting career. Former Hole bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur quickly replaced Wretzky, and the Pumpkins launched a world tour in support of "MACHINA" earlier this year.

Wretzky, meanwhile, was arrested and charged with possession of crack cocaine in January. The charges were dropped on Friday (5/19) after Wretzky completed a drug awareness program.

Trouble continued to plague the Pumpkins into the new millennium as Sharon Osbourne, wife of rocker Ozzy, announced in January that she was resigning from her position as the band's manager due to a cantankerous relationship with Corgan.

Smashing Pumpkins are currently finishing a tour of the U.S. that is scheduled to end on May 30. The band is then scheduled to tour Japan from June 20 through June 30, after which the band reportedly plans to finish recording an album of material left over from the "MACHINA" sessions. Corgan has reportedly said that the band plans to play all of the remaining dates on its itinerary, adding that he hopes to conduct a farewell tour in the U.S. before year's end.