Billy Corgan recently called himself ’an OG goth’ during an appearance on the podcast ’Howie Mandel Does Stuff,’ where he discussed the lasting impact of goth music.
When asked if goth culture still exists, Corgan replied, “Oh, yeah. It’s bigger than ever. Goth is huge now. The Cure just had the number one album in the U.K. after a 16-year absence. Well, maybe last week, but it was just now.”
He was referring to ’Songs of a Lost World,’ The Cure’s first album since 2008, which debuted at the top of Billboard’s Top Rock & Alternative Albums chart and reached Number 4 on the Billboard 200 after its November 1 release.
Goth music emerged in the U.K. during the 1970s and gained popularity through The Cure, Joy Division, and Bauhaus. Corgan admitted their influence on his own band, The Smashing Pumpkins, as they entered the music scene in the 1980s.
Reflecting on his group’s beginnings, the frontman explained, “When people think of the ’90s, they think of everybody bursting through the door and suddenly Kurt Cobain’s on MTV every five seconds. But really, we came out of the culture of the ’80s, which was much smaller, with factions between ska music, punk, and what now is known as alternative rock. These were all just club things.”
The goth influence on The Smashing Pumpkins is especially apparent in their earlier work, particularly on 1998’s ’Adore,’ a critical and commercial success in the U.S. and the U.K.
But the band shifted back to a more traditional alternative rock sound with their follow-up album, ’Machina/The Machines of God.’ Their latest release, ’Aghori Mhori Mei’ (2024), on the other hand, explored heavier metal tones.
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