Jimmy Chamberlin

Chamberlin left home at age 15 and joined a series of local bands. Although his early music career proved profitable, Chamberlin's father pressured him into going to college. In 1994, Chamberlin revealed that he had been estranged from his father for seven years. After three years with the show band JP and the Cats, Chamberlin, wearied by the touring schedule, quit and got a job building custom homes with his brother-in-law. Before long, he joined the Smashing Pumpkins.

In October 1998, Corgan convened a band meeting in which Chamberlin was reinstated as the group's drummer, and the band decided to break up after one more album and tour. The band yielded two albums in 2000, Machina/The Machines of God and the freely distributed Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music, before performing a farewell show in Chicago on December 2, 2000.

Chamberlin went on to form Zwan in 2001 with Corgan. Although Chamberlin predicted that "the band's going to be huge," Zwan produced only one album, Mary Star of the Sea, before disbanding in 2003. Chamberlin formed his next project, Jimmy Chamberlin Complex, in 2004, and released its first studio album, Life Begins Again, in 2005. Chamberlin stated that, with the Jimmy Chamberlin Complex, "I just wanted to make music and not really be constrained to making a Zwan or a Pumpkins record.". On April 29, 2016, the Jimmy Chamberlin Complex released a new song "Paranoia" via Jimmy Chamberlin's Official Twitter account

Billy Corgan announced at an April 2004 solo performance that he and Chamberlin intended to work together again in the future. After appearing on Life Begins Again, Corgan announced plans to "renew and revive" the Pumpkins through a full-page advertisement in his hometown's newspaper, the Chicago Tribune, on June 21, 2005. Chamberlin contacted Corgan to accept, and on February 2, 2006, MTV.com reported that he and Corgan had signed a new management deal with the Front Line Management, with a spokesperson confirming they had signed under the name "Smashing Pumpkins".

Chamberlin and Corgan, without the other original members, decided to record an album alone. They played their first show in Paris on May 22, 2007, with three new band members. On July 10, the new album, Zeitgeist, was released. Over the next year and a half, the band released more recordings and toured extensively.

Chamberlin comes from a jazz background, and he notes jazz musicians Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, and Billy Cobham as influences. He has also been compared to jazz drummer Dennis Chambers for his "quick hands, furious snare rolls, and crackling rimshots." In general, he is one of the few hard rock drummers to combine a driving backbeat with jazz-like flourishes. When asked about his influences in 2007, he responded:

While giving drum clinics in late 2009, Chamberlin announced his next project, a band called This. Describing the music as 'progressive, symphonic pop' he reported that the band, also including multi-instrumentalists Mike Reina and guitarist Anthony Pirog, would record with Roy Thomas Baker in Washington, D.C. in early 2010.

On March 20, 2009 the Pumpkins' website announced that Chamberlin was leaving the band. Chamberlin released a blog stating that he left as he felt that the band would not further his commitment to music.

This released their first album, a six-track release titled Great Civilizations, on November 1, 2010 as a digital download only, on both Amazon and iTunes. No official release announcement was made even on the band's official website. Downloads from iTunes and Amazon were removed after there was confusion over the band's name.

In March 2011 it was announced that the Skysaw full-length LP would be released on Dangerbird Records. On June 21, 2011, the new, extended 10 song LP Great Civilizations was released. The band subsequently toured with label mates Minus The Bear, performed hometown shows at Chicago's Metro and the Black Cat in Washington, DC, and performed on the JBTV Television Show in Chicago, IL.

In 2011, after introductions by then 1871 CEO Kevin Willer, Chamberlin began working with the burgeoning Chicago tech scene as an investor and advisor. Chamberlin's increased involvement with startups led him to an introduction to LiveOne Inc., a digital media company. Founders Tim and John Ganschow (of Chicago) were presenting their new social platform, CrowdSurfing to an investment group that included Chamberlin. Chamberlin was impressed with the fledgling company and the CrowdSurfing technology and subsequently came on board to support the company both financially and as an advisor. In 2013 Chamberlin became Chief Executive Officer of LiveOne Inc. LiveOne Inc. has since partnered with Yahoo, YouTube, Live Nation, AEG, Vans, Phish, C3, Budweiser's Made In America Festival, Umphrey's McGee, among others.

On April 6, 2011, Chamberlin announced that he had switched from long-term drum manufacturer Yamaha to Drum Workshop. He has ordered a custom "prototype" Copper Lacquer Specialty with Chrome Hardware. The Shells are a ply combination of VLT Maple and Mahogany with no reinforcement hoops. The kick drum hoops are Solid Black Lacquer. The sizes are 5x8, 7x10, 8x13, 10x14 rack toms; 14x14, 16x16 floor toms; 16x22 kick and with a matching 5.5x14 snare; and a stainless steel 6.5x14 snare.

Chamberlin joined Chicago jazz saxophonist Frank Catalano in 2013 for a number of live performances in the Chicago area. Since then they have continued to play live shows and have released a series of albums together. On July 29, 2014, Love Supreme Collective - EP featuring Jimmy Chamberlin, Percy Jones, Chris Poland, and Adam Benjamin was released and quickly became the #1 selling jazz album on iTunes USA. The follow up album, released April 7, 2015 called "God's Gonna Cut You Down" debuted at #2 on the iTunes Jazz sales chart and was the #1 charting Instrumental album upon its release in April 2015. It reached number 4 on the Billboard Jazz charts. On May 27, 2016, a 3rd collaboration between Catalano and Chamberlin was released called "Bye Bye Blackbird". This record features David Sanborn.

In November 2014 Chamberlin attended Web Summit, Ireland's top tech conference. While there, he spoke of his time with the Smashing Pumpkins as well as on the future of Digital Music at the Web Summit Centre Stage with Adrian Grenier, Chris Kaskie, and Brian Morrissey. He pointed to digital as the medium for artists to truly express themselves and create art that connects with their fans: "Artists are looking for a destination ... [and] digital gives them the opportunity to realize some of those destinations and package them in a way that allows them to be creative".

In 2015, Chamberlin began endorsing Sakae drums. His set up consisted of a 22x16" bass drum, 13x9" rack tom, 8x7" rack tom, 10x8" rack tom, 14x14" floor tom and a 16x16 floor tom. His snare was a Sakae maple 14x6.

Chamberlin again joined the band as a touring member for the 2015 End Times Tour. Chamberlin remained in the touring line-up for the subsequent "In Plainsong" Tour in 2016

In 2017 Chamberlin switched from Zildjian cymbals to Istanbul Agop cymbals. In 2018, Chamberlin returned to Yamaha Drums.

Chamberlin and former guitarist James Iha rejoined on a permanent basis in February 2018, and the band is set to embark on a partial reunion tour and release a new album.