Billy Corgan

Birthday: 17 March 1967, Elk Grove, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Birth Name: William Patrick Corgan

Height: 191 cm

Billy Corgan was born on March 17, 1967 in Elk Grove, Chicago, Illinois, USA as William Patrick Corgan. He was previously married to Christine Fabian.

For a 6-foot-3 guy with no hair and a whiny voice, I've done all right.

Say you write a song about a chandelier, and the chandelier gives off light. And the light is the co...Show more »

Say you write a song about a chandelier, and the chandelier gives off light. And the light is the color red and red reminds you of the color you're not supposed to wear around a bull. So you name the song Cow. Show less «

It's a Backstreet Boy world, and at the end of the day, you just want to go home and kill yourself.

As a 28-year-old who has lived long enough to know the difference, I know now that the feelings I fe...Show more »

As a 28-year-old who has lived long enough to know the difference, I know now that the feelings I felt at 16 were not necessarily correct. But however over dramatic, the desperation and hopelessness I felt at 16 was my reality. Show less «

I hate that in magazines, they always stick me somewhere in the back. It means they don't think I'm ...Show more »

I hate that in magazines, they always stick me somewhere in the back. It means they don't think I'm the cute one. Show less «

You can put out the big fire [Napster], but there are 100 other little fires ready to spring up, and...Show more »

You can put out the big fire [Napster], but there are 100 other little fires ready to spring up, and you'll never put them all out. Ultimately, music is going to be free. Show less «

We used to compete with Nirvana. That was good. That was real. That was viscerally good. Now we comp...Show more »

We used to compete with Nirvana. That was good. That was real. That was viscerally good. Now we compete with imitation-Nirvana. There's nothing good in that. ...It's really sad. Show less «

[on celebrity] Imagine if every week of your life for the rest of your life somebody'd be walking do...Show more »

[on celebrity] Imagine if every week of your life for the rest of your life somebody'd be walking down the street going, 'Here's a picture of you when you were eighteen. Didn't you have a better hairstyle then? Look at this T-shirt you were wearing. Don't you want to wear that T-shirt again?' That's what it's like. It's a mirrored paradigm which you cannot escape. And if you complain, which I have, you're not grateful. Show less «

"You'll never see Zwan. I'll never go anywhere near those people. Ever. I mean, I detest them." (abo...Show more »

"You'll never see Zwan. I'll never go anywhere near those people. Ever. I mean, I detest them." (about the chances of Zwan reuniting.) Show less «

Well, we have brought certain things upon ourselves. I've certainly brought things upon us with my m...Show more »

Well, we have brought certain things upon ourselves. I've certainly brought things upon us with my mouth. Show less «

Stay in school. Lie to your teachers, but stay in school.

(At a Smashing Pumpkins concert, just before an acoustic song) Corgan: "Are you ready to rock!" (Cro...Show more »

(At a Smashing Pumpkins concert, just before an acoustic song) Corgan: "Are you ready to rock!" (Crowd cheers.) Corgan: "Well then you are in the wrong place." Show less «

Great music completely obliterates any concept of genre

(On The Tonight Show) Jay Leno: "So why is the band splitting up?" Billy Corgan: "Comedy doesn't pay...Show more »

(On The Tonight Show) Jay Leno: "So why is the band splitting up?" Billy Corgan: "Comedy doesn't pay." Show less «

Don't judge yourself by other people's standards. You'll always lose.

We can look you in the eye and talk to you about life, heart, love, rock 'n' roll, whatever. But we ...Show more »

We can look you in the eye and talk to you about life, heart, love, rock 'n' roll, whatever. But we do not have the moral authority to tell people how to vote or what to do to their bodies. We're just a rock band. Show less «

Life is everything and nothing all at once.

[on creativity] When you have it, it feels like a font that just flows through you, and everything g...Show more »

[on creativity] When you have it, it feels like a font that just flows through you, and everything gets real easy. And then one day it sort of slows down or it stops and you tell yourself, 'I'm just having a bad day or a bad month'. And the next thing you know, people start doubting you, you don't have that magic touch. And then you start doubting yourself. Show less «

"The album was going to come out. So I did what I always did: Try to make the best of a situation. I...Show more »

"The album was going to come out. So I did what I always did: Try to make the best of a situation. I start covering up. Put on a good face. And honestly, as God is my witness, I'm glad the thing didn't sell, because if it had sold then it would have been really tough. I would look like I was insane to walk away from something that I'd just built." (about his uncomfortable situation with his former band Zwan and how grateful he was when Mary Star of the Sea album flopped.) Show less «

The thing that makes it all worth it is when somebody comes up and says 'I had a really hard time in...Show more »

The thing that makes it all worth it is when somebody comes up and says 'I had a really hard time in my life and your album really helped me.' As long as that happens, all the idiots in the world and all the stupid press can say what they want to. It just doesn't matter. Show less «

The basic Pumpkins philosophy from the beginning was that everything had already been done. You coul...Show more »

The basic Pumpkins philosophy from the beginning was that everything had already been done. You couldn't write better songs than the Beatles, you couldn't be heavier than Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath, you couldn't be cooler than Cheap Trick. There was no way you were gonna top that. So all you could really do was try to rip off what you liked about it and sort of throw it back at people in a different way. Show less «