Billy Corgan has revealed he was forced to pay a hacker to stop them from leaking new The Smashing Pumpkins music.READ MORE: The Smashing Pumpkins – ‘ATUM’ review: bombastic space-rock opera with anthemsThe third and final part of The Smashing Pumpkins’ rock opera ‘ATUM’ was released yesterday (May 5), serving as a sequel to their classic double records ‘Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness’ (1995) and ‘Machina/The Machines Of God’ (2000).But according to vocalist Billy Corgan, a hacker got their hands on nine tracks from the record six months ago and threatened to leak them.“They were all probably the most catchy, single-y type songs,” Corgan said in an interview on KROQ’s Klein/Ally Show [viaConsequence]. “You’re pretty much giving away the album before you even have a chance to set your feet into the ground.”Corgan went on to say that he still doesn’t know how the hacker got the songs but was alerted to the leak via a fan. The hacker was “offering the files for money” which Corgan paid from his own back pocket to “stop the leak from happening”.He went on to explain the hacker wasn’t a “Pumpkins fan that was hellbent on breaking it on Reddit,” but a mercenary.