The Smashing Pumpkins were the biggest band in the world by the time 1996 Video Music Awards happened. (and the award show used to actually mean something) And they were not just the biggest rock band, the biggest artist period. I’ll never forget how powerful it felt to watch them open the show that year in a sort of crowning ceremony. Watching the clip back always takes me to those memories of how magical it all felt for something this good and this real to rule the musical world.