Billy Corgan and the late Kurt Cobain were arguably two of the greatest songwriters of the alternative rock revolution of the early ’90s. In a new interview, the Smashing Pumpkins frontman likens it to a competition, calling Nirvana’s mastermind his “greatest rival.”
Speaking with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Corgan chose sports analogies when discussing his reaction to Cobain’s death in 1994, while also comparing Smashing Pumpkins’ legacy to other greats of the era, including Nirvana.
“I want the Pumpkins to be at the top of our generation,” Cogan said in the interview. “If it meant I had to write 800 songs to do it, I’d do it. I’m not shy. I’ll always say that, Kurt is the most talented guy of our generation. Talented. Like scary. It’s like John Lennon’s talent, and you’re like, “How can you have all these talents? ’ Still a prince, right? But Kurt isn’t here, which is a pity. So I looked around and I thought, ‘Okay, okay, I’m sure I can beat the rest of them.’”
Regarding Kurt’s passing, Colgan continued, “When Kurt died, I cried because I lost my greatest rival. I want to beat the best. I don’t want to win a championship because it’s just Me and a bunch of gabronis, in wrestling terms. Like michael jordan, arguably the greatest sports competitor i’ve ever seen in my life – i mean, you want to talk about alpha. the guy wants to win the replacement Parking tip. You know what I mean?”
Corgan went on to discuss other artists such as Deftones’ Chino Moreno (“the real deal”), Radiohead (who “discovered this world before every band on the face of the earth”), and U2, recounting a story of how he contributed to the latter suggestion everything you can’t leave Bono and company apparently ended up using LP.
“So, around 2000, I ended up in Dublin, and I went to visit Bono at his house,” Colgan said. “We didn’t sleep all night, and in the morning, for some reason, it was just me and him sleeping, and he said, ‘I want to play you something. We’re going to have to drive out because I don’t want to wake up the house. .”
He continued: “So it was me and him freezing in the driveway, and he popped up and he was playing me what would become the ‘It’s a Beautiful Day’ album, not all the way, but kind of. And then He said, “Tell me what you think honestly. ’ I thought, ‘Do you really want me to give you my opinion? I told him what I thought, and they actually took my advice, and he later told me, ‘Hey, we took your advice.’ “
This summer, Corgan will tour North America with Smashing Pumpkins on the band’s “The World Is a Vampire Tour,” with support from Interpol, Stone Temple Pilots and Rival Sons. Pumpkins tickets for upcoming dates are available here.
You can watch the full interview with Billy Corgan on Apple Music below.