MCR, Billy Corgan perform Bullet With Butterfly Wings in Chicago

My Chemical Romance brought Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan onstage to perform "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" during their Long Live the Black Parade tour stop in Chicago on Friday, Aug. 29, treating a sold-out crowd to an impromptu reunion of two generations of alternative rock. The surprise appearance came as the band, celebrating the 20th anniversary of their 2006 album The Black Parade, added the 1995 Smashing Pumpkins single to their setlist for the evening.

Frontman Gerard Way introduced Corgan by recounting how the Pumpkins and their Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness tour helped inspire his entry into music. "We saw that and was like, We would love to do this, it would be real fucking amazing," Way told the crowd, later calling "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" "the ultimate rock defiance." He also recounted a more recent, personal moment during the pandemic when watching a fan play along to the song made him feel its impact anew. Corgan then joined My Chemical Romance onstage, sharing guitar and vocal duties on the Mellon Collie anthem to enthusiastic applause, footage of which circulated online.

Most accounts place the concert at Soldier Field; one report...