Here's a weird one – one time The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan told Pantera to shut the fuck up, and an ass beating didn't immediately happen.
Yes, one time Corgan straight up had to stop Pantera from talking about how Metallica "wasn't metal" anymore in the 90s. Corgan told the story to Jose "Metal Ambassador" Mangin on SirusXM, and closed out by saying the band made him drink a bunch shortly after. Which feels like a very Pantera thing to do.
"Let me tell you a story since we're talking Pantera. So, they were having a big moment obviously during [the Nineties] and I was backstage with them one day and one of those mid-Nineties — might have been Reload or something — Metallica [albums] had come out, and there was a lot of controversy about where Metallica was trying to go and what happened to Metallica and are they still metal and they're wearing makeup now or whatever.
"And [Pantera] were just going on and on about Metallica. Not in a negative way, more like a confused, like, 'I love Metallica, but I don't get it and they're not metal and what's going on?' And I literally said, and this is a true story, I don't think I've ever told this story in public. I raised my hands, and I knew them well enough that they would sort of listen to me. I mean, that's saying something.
"And I said, 'You know what? Shut the fuck up.' And they looked at me like, like, 'Did you just tell us to shut the fuck up?' I said, 'Shut the fuck up.' Okay, so the room goes silent, and I go, 'Listen, set aside Metallica for a second. Okay? You guys right now are the best metal band on the fucking planet, okay? Shut the fuck up. Worry about Pantera. Just worry about Pantera. Metallica will work it out.'
"And they did, right? And I said, 'You just focus on Pantera. You just focus on being the greatest metal band on the fucking planet.' And they all kind of looked at each other and they were like, 'Okay, he's complimenting us.' And then it was like, 'Okay, drink this horrible poison you fucking alternative weirdo.'"
