Ginger A. Pooley ( Reyes, born April 22, 1977) is an American musician. She was the bassist and backing vocalist for the

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

The Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. The ...

from 2007 to 2010. She has played bass for

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani Shelton ( ; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani rose to fame as a member and lead vocalist of the band No Doubt, whose hit singles include " Just a Girl", " Spiderwebs", an ...

Lea Michele Lea Michele Sarfati ( ; born August 29, 1986) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She began her career as a child actress on Broadway, appearing in productions of ''Les Misérables'' (1995–1996), ''Ragtime'' (1997–1999), ''Fid ...

and

Garbage Garbage, trash (American English), rubbish (British English), or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or ...

, and was part of the female punk band the Halo Friendlies. Reyes has released solo music under the name Ginger Sling.

Early life and education

Reyes was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, of

Peruvian Peruvians (''/peruanas'') are the citizens of Peru. What is now Peru has been inhabited for several millennia by cultures such as the Caral before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. Peruvian population decreased from an estimated 5–9 ...

ancestry. She has had a long musical career, playing in bands and writing songs since her freshman year in high school. Her first band was the Israelites, a

Christian ska Christian ska is a form of Christian alternative rock, and subgenre of ska and ska punk which is lyrically oriented toward contemporary Christian music. Though ska did not constitute a genre within the Christian music industry until after third ...

band from

La Crescenta, California La Crescenta-Montrose () is an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The community is bordered by Glendale, California, Glendale to the south and west, La Cañada Flintridge, California, La Cañada Flintridge to ...

. She later replaced Cheryl Hecht as the bassist for the all girl

pop-punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...

band the Halo Friendlies. She attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

from 1998 to 2000 and has a degree in history.

Career

Ginger played bass for the band Lo-Ball during the 2001 Warped Tour. The 2004 music video for her song "Faith" was directed by

Djay Brawner Djay Brawner (born June 21, 1981) is an American director of music videos, film, and television. Career In 2000, after taking film classes at De Anza College, he moved Orange, California to begin his education at Chapman University's film scho ...

. In 2004 she released her "Room EP" on Pineapple Heart Records, and in 2005, another EP entitled "Laguna Beach Demos" on the same label.

On April 6, 2007, rock rumor website '' Buddyhead'' reported that Ginger Reyes was the new bassist for

, replacing former bassists

D'arcy Wretzky D'arcy Elizabeth Wretzky (born May 1, 1968) is an American musician. She was the original bassist of the alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins and is credited on their first six studio albums. She left the band in 1999. She has also been a ...

and

Melissa Auf der Maur Melissa Gaboriau Auf der Maur (; born March 17, 1972) is a Canadian musician. Auf der Maur began performing in 1993 after forming the indie rock band Tinker (band), Tinker while she was a student at Concordia University. She was recruited ...

, in the new line-up. Reyes has taken part in three Smashing Pumpkins music videos: "

Tarantula Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,100 species have been identified, with 166 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although ...

", " That's the Way (My Love Is)" and " G.L.O.W." In March 2010, Pooley left The Smashing Pumpkins to focus on her family, stating: Pooley made a guest appearance during the Smashing Pumpkins' Record Store Day performance on April 17, 2010, in Hollywood, CA. She played bass during the rendition of "

Bullet with Butterfly Wings "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" is a song by the American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins. It was released as the lead single from their 1995 double album ''Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness'', and is the sixth track on the first ...

". She also played bass for Glee Live in 2010 and 2011 and is working on a solo EP. In April 2024, Pooley was announced as new touring bassist for

Personal life

During The Smashing Pumpkins' concert on February 16, 2008, at the

O2 Arena O2 Arena may refer to: *The O2 Arena, London * O2 Arena, Prague *The 3Arena, Dublin, formerly known as The O2 *The Uber Arena, Berlin, formerly known as O2 World *The Barclays Arena Barclays Arena (originally known as the Color Line Arena an ...

in London,

Billy Corgan William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, singer, and only constant member of alter ...

announced that Reyes had recently become engaged. She married Kristopher Pooley June 22, 2008, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Pooley is a professional musician who toured as

's keyboardist and joined the Smashing Pumpkins on their 2008 20th Anniversary tour. On April 6, 2009, it was announced on The Smashing Pumpkins' official website that Pooley and her husband Kris were expecting their first child later that year. It was announced via Twitter that on October 17, 2009, she gave birth to a baby girl, Talula Victoria Pooley.

References

External links

Ginger Sling MySpaceBass Player Magazine interview with Ginger ReyesGinger Reyes on Fender.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pooley, Ginger 1977 births American performers of Christian music American women guitarists American rock bass guitarists American rock guitarists American women bass guitarists Living people American people of Peruvian descent The Smashing Pumpkins members University of California, Los Angeles alumni Hispanic and Latino American musicians 21st-century American women musicians 21st-century American bass guitarists