Billy Corgan
Billy Corgan
William Patrick "Billy" Corgan Jr. is an American musician, songwriter, producer, television writer, poet, and professional wrestling promoter best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and sole permanent member of The Smashing Pumpkins. Formed by Corgan and guitarist James Iha in Chicago, Illinois, in 1987, the band quickly gained steam with the addition of bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. The band's direction has largely been driven by Corgan through his confessional lyrics, grandiose production values, and virtuosic musical...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionRock Singer
Date of Birth17 March 1967
CityElk Grove Village, IL
CountryUnited States of America
Every year that goes by, I lose that much more motivation to play rock.
My view of the world is always tempered by the fact that there are people who are less fortunate than I am.
I met Scott Stapp when the band was first coming up, great guy. I haven't seen him for years, but a great guy.
Being in a rock band is just an excuse not to get a job
Are you all ready to have a rockin' mashed potato time?
I think rock & roll has prepared me for a lot of flexibility.
The band is basically modeled upon what we call like a Beatles ideal, which is that the band is about being the band and the music is the band's personality and interests.
For a 6-foot-3 guy with no hair and a whiny voice, I've done alright.
It's my role as an artist to basically destroy the obvious and recreate the obvious, to put it back together into a form that maybe you wouldn't have considered, ... I'm not into making things unimaginable.
Interviewer: "If you weren't a rock star..." Billy: "I wouldn't be wearing these silver pants.
I don't mean this in any sort of trite way, ... but the music has really been the thing that has healed us over and over again. It is the thing that has held us together and taught us about each other.
Well, what we usually do is in every city we got to, we hire a fifteen-year-old boy and we turn it up until he starts to make a funny face, then we turn it up about ten notches higher than that.
It's what the mainstream does - they absorb things and they blunt the power of it. And so the next generation and the next generation has to become more shocking and more provocative in order to get any rise out of anybody.
To be able to put your arms around 24 years of music, it's really fun.