Smashing Pumpkins on drummer: 'Mike has left the building'

Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan has confirmed that drummer Mike Byrne has left the band.

In an interview with Music Radar, Corgan discussed the band's new album, Monuments To An Elegy, and the decision to have Motley Crue's Tommy Lee play on the album instead of the band's drummer Mike Byrne.

"Tommy Lee is the drummer on the Monuments album," admitted Corgan, adding: "Mike, like Elvis, has left the building." When the website pushed for further details, Corgan repeated, "Let's just say that Mike, like Elvis, has left the biuilding."

Byrne joined the band in 2010 at the age of 19, replacing founding member Jimmy Chamberlin. He drummed on the 2009 album Teargarden By Kaleidyscope and 2012 album Oceania.

Later in the interview, Corgan discussed the similarities between original drummer Jimmy hamberlin and Tommy Lee, seeming to deliberately omit any mention of Byrne.

"The two most intuitive musicians I’ve ever worked with are Jimmy Chamberlin and Tommy Lee," he said. "You sit there in the back as you’re watching it happen and you think, ‘There’s a reason why this guy has sold so many records’ – and I’m looking at it.

"It’s a certain feel, a certain swing, a certain approach to music and a real love of music. Both Tommy and Jimmy have that. They just know what to do – there’s no hand-holding.”

Corgan had previously confirmed that Lee would be appearing on the band's new album, Monuments To An Elegy, but it's unclear whether his involvement with continue beyond that.