Billy Corgan thinks Smashing Pumpkins are “one of the most misunderstood bands in the history of rock ‘n’ roll”
Billy Corgan has revealed that he thinks The Smashing Pumpkins are “one of the most misunderstood bands in the history of rock ‘n’ roll” – see why below.
Corgan appeared on a recent episode of Joe Rogan’s podcast to talk about a myriad of topics, including the band’s music. During their discussion, the Smashing Pumpkins frontman spoke about bands like Nickelback and Creed now finding newfound support of years of “hate”.
“You’re about to see that Nickelback and Creed are about to go on a huge run of business… They survived [the hate], and now comes the inevitable moment of, ‘It was really good’… they wrote a lot of great songs.”
Corgan went on to add that he thinks Smashing Pumpkins will receive more love from the music scene as time goes on: “It’s kind of how I feel about my musical life. Time will tell my story much better than I did.”
Later on in the chat, Corgan says: “We’re probably one of the most misunderstood bands in the history of rock ‘n’ roll. That sounds like a wrestling statement, but it’s fairly accurate.”
He went on to explain: “I think it has a lot to do with the issues of Gen X, and it has a lot to do with a relationship that I set into motion with the media when I was a very young person, playing kind of a funny game — like doing my own my own version of Andy Kaufman or Bob Zmuda. Because I thought it was all shitty, so I was just like, ‘I’m just going to play with this like a toy because I think it’s kind of funny.’”
“I didn’t realise that the coming culture was going to kind of almost be attracted to people who are willing to immolate themselves on the public stage. Most people who are attracted to fame, they want to run towards the the shiny part of it. I was attracted to the non-shiny part, which is, ‘Okay, I’ll light myself on fire and let’s see what happens,’ or ‘I’ll light you on fire and let’s see what happens.’
Corgan continued: “So, it kind of worked in the ’90s when everybody was rolling and moving along. Well, here comes Napster, the music business craters, then a bunch of people die, and there you are at 40 years old, you’re supposed to carry some flag for a generation that doesn’t even know who it is anymore.”
When asked how he navigates that, Corgan explained: “The simple version is: I’ve had a lot of the top people in the business sit me down one-on-one in a room and tell me ‘Just give them what they want. Your life will be a lot better, you’ll make more money’. And my response every time was: ‘I don’t give a fuck. I’m here because I’m a freak and I ain’t changing for anything.’”
More recently, Corgan 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.
According to comments Sharon Osbourne shared with NME, the singer is set to take to the stage alongside Tool drummer Danny Carey and Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello. They join a massive list of rock royalty playing on the night, including Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Lamb Of God, Mastodon, Alice In Chains, Halestorm, recent Grammy-winners Gojira and more.
Smashing Pumpkins are due to play a massive set at Gunnersbury Park in West London later this summer – taking to the stage on August 10. The set will see them joined by Skunk Anansie and White Lies as special guests.
As well as heading to London, frontman Billy Corgan and co. have also shared details of three more UK shows for later this summer. These include a stop in Halifax on August 12 as part of the Live At The Piece Hall series, and a stop in Scarborough the following night.
Find a list of dates below and visit here to buy tickets.
The Smashing Pumpkins 2025 UK tour dates are:
AUGUST
10 – London, Gunnersbury Park
12 – Halifax, TK Maxx Presents Live At The Piece Hall
13 – Scarborough, TK Maxx Presents Open Air Theatre
14 – Colchester, Colchester Castle Summer Series
Others performing at Gunnersbury Park over the summer include Martin Garrix – who will play his biggest UK headline show and first London headline performance in over half a decade on August 16 – and Khruangbin. PAWSA have also been confirmed for Gunnersbury Park 2025, as have The Libertines, who will be joined by Supergrass, Soft Play, Hak Baker and Lambrini Girls.
The 2024 edition featured headline sets from PJ Harvey, Korn, Peggy Gou and Tom Grennan.
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Surej Singh
NME
