CHICAGO (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — The Smashing Pumpkins managed to raise over $80,000 (and counting) with a sold-out benefit concert for Matthew Leone, bassist for Chicago band Madina Lake.
The money will go to the ongoing medical care needed for the musician who, last month, was hospitalized with severe brain trauma after intervening to stop a woman he passed on the street from being beaten by her husband. Matthew—whose medical insurance had lapsed just two months prior to the incident–was taken to UIC Hospital for emergency brain surgery wherein a third of his skull was removed to alleviate swelling. He's currently in stable condition awaiting an additional brain surgery to reapply the removed portion of his skull.
"I was inspired by Matthew's courageous defense of a woman he didn't even know," said the Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan. "What pushed me to do the benefit for his medical fund was how much he is loved by close friends of mine who know him well. I spoke to his family at the benefit and they all said that it didn't surprise them at all that he did what he did to stop an injustice."
During the concert, Corgan even pulled his guitar off and auctioned it off to the crowd, selling it for a winning bid of $10,000.
All proceeds from the raffle and concert will go to the Matthew Leone Fund at Sweet Relief. Sweet Relief Musicians Fund is a non profit 501(c)(3) organization provides financial assistance to all types of career musicians who are struggling to make ends meet while facing illness, disability, or age-related problems.
The Chi-Town club Metro is by coincidence, where, on October 5, 1988, the Pumpkins played their first show. They also chose the venue for a farewell concert on December 2, 2000, a four-hour-long show that featured 38 songs spanning the group’s career at that time. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
