Billy Corgan & Chloé Mendel hope to “embrace our community” with virtual Highland Park benefit concert

Credit: Billy Corgan & Chloé Mendel

On Wednesday night, The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan and his longtime partner, clothing designer Chloé Mendel, are hosting Together and Together Again, a virtual benefit concert to support the victims of the July 4 shooting in Highland Park, Illinois.

Corgan and Mendel are longtime residents of the Chicago suburb, and the show will be filmed at the couple’s Highland Park tea shop, Madame Zuzu’s.

“Our business is located just within one block of the crime scene,” Mendel tells ABC Audio. “It was really important for us to keep it home, to embrace our community, embrace our location, and create a show that could raise as much awareness and funds as possible to those in need.”

Along with Corgan, the performer lineup includes Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, Bob Moses and Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell, who’s built a strong connection to the Chicago area since bringing Lollapalooza to the Windy City in 2005 and can relate to Highland Park’s large Jewish community.

“Perry’s a very, very proud Jewish American, and I know these issues are very, very sensitive to him, as well,” Corgan says.

Corgan is, of course, well versed in the healing power of music, having seen so many fans connect to his songs on a personal level and turning to his own favorite artists during tough times in his life. For him, one of those songs is Pink Floyd‘s “Wish You Were Here.”

“When I was 17 years old and my grandmother was dying of cancer, it was the first time in my life that I found that one song that got me through this horrible and tragic moment in my life,” Corgan shares.

Together and Together Again airs at 8 p.m. CT on YouTube. Viewer donations will benefit the Highland Park Community Foundation‘s shooting response fund.

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