Ginger A. Pooley (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Reyes, born April 22, 1977) is an American

rock musician Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States and ...

, best known as a

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low b ...

and

backing vocalist A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

for the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

band

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

. More recently she has played bass for

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include " Just a Girl", " Spiderweb ...

and

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

. She is an artist and songwriter who has released solo music under the name Ginger Sling. She was also part of the femme punk band the

Halo Friendlies The Halo Friendlies were an American all-girl pop punk band from Long Beach, California, United States. After snatching up a guitar in a thrift shop while on her first date with then-boyfriend now-husband Matt Wignall of Havalina/ Matt Deat ...

. She has toured all over the world and her music has been placed on many television shows and films. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter where she continues to create music for various projects.

Early life and education

Reyes was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

, of

Peruvian Peruvians ( es, peruanos) are the citizens of Peru. There were Andean and coastal ancient civilizations like Caral, which inhabited what is now Peruvian territory for several millennia before the Spanish conquest of Peru, Spanish conquest in th ...

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 thir ...

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 to the south and west, La Cañada Flintridge to the east, and Angeles National Forest to the north. Acc ...

. She later replaced Cheryl Hecht as the bassist for the all girl pop-punk band the

. She attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

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 school ...

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

The Smashing Pumpkins

On April 6, 2007, rock rumor website ''

Buddyhead ''Buddyhead'' is a music website and independent record label created by Travis Keller in the summer of 1998, located in Hollywood, California. Buddyhead engaged in criticism of popular culture and the music industry. It's legendary gossip column ...

'' reported that Ginger Reyes was the new bassist for

, replacing former bassists

D'arcy Wretzky D'arcy Elizabeth Wretzky-Brown (born May 1, 1968) is an American musician. She is the original bass player of the alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins and is credited on their first six studio albums. She left the band in 1999. Biograp ...

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. , 1,040 species have been identified, with 156 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although m ...

", "

That's the Way (My Love Is) "That's the Way (My Love Is)" is a song written by Billy Corgan and performed by The Smashing Pumpkins on their album ''Zeitgeist''. "That's the Way (My Love Is)" is the second, and final, commercial single from the album, and was released to ra ...

" 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.

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 The 3Arena (originally The O2) is an indoor amphitheatre located at North Wall Quay in the Dublin Docklands in Dublin, Ireland. The venue opened as The O2 on 16 Decemb ...

in London,

Billy Corgan William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the lead singer, primary songwriter, guitarist, and only permanent member of the rock band th ...

announced that Reyes had recently become engaged. She married

Kristopher Pooley Kristopher Michael Pooley (born October 30, 1976) is an American rock musician from Detroit. He toured with Gwen Stefani as her keyboardist, programmer, and musical director. He is also the music director for Katy Perry, Kesha, Demi Lovato, Ada ...

June 22, 2008, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. 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 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