Billy Corgan reveals what song he wants played at his funeral (yes, it’s a Smashing Pumpkins song)
Billy Corgan has revealed that there is a song by The Smashing Pumpkins that he wants played at his funeral.
The singer, songwriter, guitarist and podcast host shared the news as part of a new interview with The Guardian, where he was asked to share some of the songs that have the most personal meaning to him and have influenced him over the years.
Among his top pics were ‘She Loves You’ by The Beatles – which he revealed was the first single he ever bought – as well as ‘Wish You Were Here’ by Pink Floyd, ‘Fade To Black’ by Metallica and ‘Roar’ by Katy Perry, which he admitted was a song he secretly liked.
For one of the questions, Corgan was asked which song he would like to be played at his funeral, to which he responded it would be one of his own tracks that he shared with Smashing Pumpkins.
“I’d probably pick one of my own just to make some sort of posthumous, bitter point: ‘You should have paid more attention to me when I was here’, he joked. “‘To Sheila’ from the ‘Adore’ album by Smashing Pumpkins would be a good one, if you’re sitting there, mourning my loss,” he said. Check out the song below.
It wasn’t the only Smashing Pumpkins song that made the list too, as the frontman also revealed that it was one of the band’s classic tracks that was his most recent choice when doing karaoke.
“The last song I did at karaoke was ‘Zero’ by The Smashing Pumpkins. I thought it would be funny to sing my own song, but the longer it went, the more I performed it like I was on stage in front of 50,000 people, and the less people thought it was funny,” he said.
Earlier this year, Corgan spoke to NME about the legacy of the band, and shared his outlook on their iconic ‘Mellon Collie’ album turning 30. “We are working with the parent label to possibly put out some kind of special edition. I am announcing that I’m doing some solo dates and hope to honour the album as part of that,” he said.
“It’s weird because I can’t believe it’s been 30 years. I’m really excited, but at the same time, I’m like ‘What happened over these last 30 years?’”
Later this summer The Smashing Pumpkins are set to perform a massive show at Gunnersbury Park with Skunk Anansie and White Lies as special guests. Speaking about that gig, Corgan said: “The nice thing about playing all these years, especially together, is you now know how to handle those bigger moments.
“When I was young, I would look at those gigs and almost feel intimidated. Now, I look at those gigs and I want to rub my hands together because it’s so exciting. It’s a chance to create a one-of-a-kind moment in your life and the audience wants it. They want to see you at your peak and that pressure and feeling is magical when it works.”
Elsewhere, the frontman was announced as one of the names for the star-studded final-ever live show from Black Sabbath, which will take place in Birmingham on July 5. He also launched his own podcast series – which sees him interview some of the biggest names from the music world – and confirmed both a solo project and North American tour. Visit here for UK tickets and here for US tickets.
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Liberty Dunworth
NME
