The 56-year-old Chicago-born rocker Billy Corgan is known best for his work as the frontman for the buzzy 1990s rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. While he’s since enjoyed a solo career, his name is inescapable from the moody music he and his crew composed at the end of the 20th century.
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The influence of The Smashing Pumpkins’ sound on music is undeniable. So, some may wonder what exactly Corgan has to say outside of his well-known tunes. The quotes below will reveal Corgan’s thoughts on what his legacy will be, spiritual journeys, arguing with other musicians, and much more.
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1. “In my particular instance, I came from a family that didn’t have anything. Everything I earned in life I made. Myself. With songs that I wrote.”
2. “More than any audience in the world, Americans will cross their arms, stare at you and say, ‘OK, whaddya got?’ No matter how many times you’ve proven it to them.”
3. “I don’t have any sentimental notion about how people are going to remember me.”
4. “The desire to hit a big home run is dominating the music business.”
5. “Like any good tree that one would hope to grow, we must set our roots deep into the ground so that what is real will prosper in the Light of Love.”
6. “Rock and roll is not about what you play, it’s about how you play it.”
7. “If you don’t fit into this kind of like gossipy, trendy, Web-hit thingy, you’re relegated to sort of second-class celebrity status.”
8. “I have a saying, which is, ‘Crazy is good for business.’ I think rock and roll really is about being a bit crazy.”
9. “I think I’m an artistic radical, and I think I’ll be recognized as one. I’m a really good musician and a songwriter, but I think my real legacy will be as a radical.”
10. “My mother and I parting company at four years old is a recurring theme; although it’s not symbolically necessarily present, it’s present in all my relationships.”
11. “You have to be willing to deal with the ups and downs of the music, the ups and downs of the audience.”
12. “You know Americans are obsessed with life and death and rebirth, that’s the American Cycle. You know, awakening, tragic, horrible death and then Phoenix rising from the ashes. That’s the American story, again and again.”
13. “These days you’re not just competing with the tedium, you’re competing with the cellphone.”
14. “In a weird kind of way, music has afforded me an idealism and perfectionism that I could never attain as me.”
15. “Most of my arguments with musicians through the years have had more to do with their attitude about music, or their attitude about their own lives, or their personal responsibility. Music has never really been the big centerpiece of the fight.”
16. “I want people to see me happy.”
17. “I’ve been too productive for too long, and despite what anybody wants to strip away from me, I am influential. I am.”
18. “Compliments and criticism are all ultimately based on some form of projection.”
19. “I think a spiritual journey is not so much a journey of discovery. It’s a journey of recovery. It’s a journey of uncovering your own inner nature. It’s already there.”
20. “I’m prepared to spend the rest of my life playing clubs, if that means I’m playing music that I believe in.”
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