Billy Corgan reflected on going back to his hometown in Chicago after getting famous in a recent chat with KROQ. The Smashing Pumpkins singer revealed that his book-signing event there got the lowest attendance ever and noted not being welcomed by his high school so far:
“I’ve never been invited back to my high school that I graduated with honors. I was an honors student. Never been invited back to my high school. Ever for anything. Not a charity function, not a come-talk-to-the-music-class-about-your-experiences. That shows you the world that I grew up in this pernicious bitter world.”
He added:
“So, when I did try to go home again at different times in the ‘90s and the 2000s, it was like getting slapped in the face with a fish or something. You know, it was like, ‘Hey, kid! This part of your life is over.’ There’s no making peace with this.”
Billy Corgan’s Childhood
Corgan went through a tough childhood being abused by his stepmother and father, William Corgan Sr. The vocalist’s guitarist father couldn’t make much of a career out of music and was reportedly jealous of his success. He recalled in a 2023 chat on ‘The Howard Stern Show’:
“He got really jealous. I was shocked because, in my mind, I watched too many Disney movies, but I thought he would pat me on the head and say, ‘Good job, kid, I’m so proud of you.’ It was the exact opposite. He acted like I played some weird magic trick and I got lucky. He was using words like ‘lucky’ and ‘save your money because you’re gonna need it,’ and ‘snug a knuckle in the last’ it was all this doomed talk. He put that vibe on me.”
His words continued:
“It was the album ‘Siamese Dream’; he listened to the album and called me afterward and said, ‘I don’t know who this person is singing this album. I wanna know, is that you in there?’ He gave me this weird talk like, ‘Is that who you really are?’ And I was like, ‘Yes, it’s me, I’ve been here the whole time, hello, it’s your son Billy, hello!’ He acted like I was a total stranger, and he tried to tell me weird shit like, ‘You were so quiet as a kid,’ and I said, ‘No because every time I opened my mouth, you told me to shut the f*ck up.’”
He’s Trying To Heal
The singer dealt with several mental health issues including anxiety, depression, and OCD due to his childhood trauma and the pressure of the music industry. The Smashing Pumpkins’ 1994 single ‘Disarm’ and many other tracks touched on the matter through the years.
Corgan advocated for abuse support and showed effort to protect his kids from similar problems. He told The Guardian once:
“When you start having kids, it’s like – OK, now you gotta not repeat all the mistakes that you’ve been complaining about in your songs for 20 years. Now, you got to be that guy that you wished your father was. It has a way of sobering you up.”
And explained:
“I’ve never had any drug or alcohol issues; it was more like the classic: I guess I better grow the fuck up now. I put off adult responsibility about as long as possible, outside of work. It was always my inner rationalization – ‘I’m working, and so everything’s fine.’ But that turned out not to be the case.”
Check out Billy Corgan’s recent interview below.
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