with the low E string played under it), used as the basis for "Cherub Rock", "Drown", and other songs, was in fact previously used by Jimi Hendrix. Other early influences cited by Corgan include Cream, the Stooges, and Blue Cheer. Regarding the band's influence upon other groups, Greg Kot wrote in 2001, "Whereas Nirvana spawned countless mini-Nirvanas, the Pumpkins remain an island unto themselves." Still, some artists and bands have been influenced by the Pumpkins, such as Nelly Furtado, Marilyn Manson, Third Eye Blind, Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, Tegan and Sara, Fall Out Boy, Rivers Cuomo, Panic! at the Disco, Silversun Pickups, and My Chemical Romance. My Chemical Romance vocalist Gerard Way has said that they pattern their career upon the Pumpkins', including music videos. The members of fellow Chicago band Kill Hannah are friends with Corgan, and lead singer Mat Devine has compared his group to the Pumpkins. The group has sold over 30 million albums worldwide as of October 2012, and sales in the United States alone reaching 19.75 million. Music videos The Smashing Pumpkins have been praised as "responsible for some of the most striking and memorable video clips" and for having "approached videos from a completely artistic standpoint rather than mere commercials to sell albums". MTV's 2001 anniversary special Testimony: 20 Years of Rock on MTV credited the Pumpkins, along with Nine Inch Nails, with treating music videos as an art form during the 1990s. Corgan has said, "We generally resisted the idea of what I call the classic MTV rock video, which is like lots of people jumping around and stuff." The band worked with video directors including Kevin Kerslake ("Cherub Rock"), Samuel Bayer ("Bullet with Butterfly Wings"), and, most frequently, the team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris ("Rocket", "1979", "Tonight, Tonight", "The End Is the Beginning Is the End", and "Perfect"). Corgan, who was frequently heavily involved in the conception of the videos, said of Dayton and Faris, "I know my [initial] versions are always darker, and they're always talking me into something a little kinder and gentler." Videos like "Today", "Rocket", and "1979" dealt with images taken from middle American culture, albeit exaggerated. The group's videos so often avoid the literal interpretation of the song lyrics that the video for "Thirty-Three", with images closely related to the words of the song, was created as an intentional stylistic departure. The band was nominated