Billy Corgan

With his bald head and high-pitched voice, Billy Corgan and his Smashing Pumpkins were major touchstones for the grunge-era generation of music listeners. After splitting up the band, in which he was guitarist, singer and songwriter, Corgan formed Zwan with members of Tortoise and Chavez. In 2004, he earned some critical acclaim when he put out a book of his own poetry; the following year he released his first solo record, TheFutureEmbrace, which found him experimenting with trip-hop and industrial music. The record seems to indicate that Corgan is drifting further and further from the formulas (successful as they were) of his past.