Tag: Billy Corgan

Billy Corgan has given a predictably wild interview to The New York Times’ Joe Coscarelli, going off on a wide range of topics including politics and Smashing Pumpkins’ upcoming reunion tour. Notably, he addresses the controversy surrounding the reunion, after original bassist D’Arcy Wretzky slammed the project and called out Corgan’s manipulative treatment of her. “I think what she did demonstrates why she couldn’t be involved,” he tells The Times, in reference to the text message conversations she shared. He continues, “I was vulnerable and shared things and trusted that there was a reason to give it a chance, despite plenty of empirical evidence that that was not a wise decision.” He adds that the bridge is burned “forever.” Elsewhere in the interview, Corgan addresses criticisms of his politics after his appearances on the alt-right conspiracy theorist show InfoWars. Asked whether he voted for Trump, Corgan states that the last time he voted was for Bill Clinton in 1992. “I’m a free-market libertarian capitalist,” he explains. “I’m not anti-anything except establishment. I find institutions and systems suspicious.” Coscarelli also notes that, during the interview, Corgan used the following terms: “culture war,” “fake news,” “globalists,” “Maoists,” “purity tests,” “left-leaning groupthink,” “protected minority groups,” “mass hypnosis,” and “social justice warriors.” Discussing whether his off-stage behavior turn fans off, Corgan says, “If I kept my mouth shut, and if I kept my band together, we’d be playing a lot bigger venues and we would be a lot more successful, and we’d be in somebody’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.” He clarifies, “I would say 80 percent of the things that I get held up and mocked for, I’m doing intentionally.... It’s sort of funny to me that they actually think I’m that stupid. It’s, like, yeah, I work in wrestling—I’m running you.” Read the full story at The New York Times. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that WATCH The 10 Best Albums of 1998 : 0%: 0%