{"id":1211752,"date":"2025-02-19T19:58:08","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T19:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/?p=1211752"},"modified":"2025-02-19T19:58:08","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T19:58:08","slug":"id-like-to-celebrate-people-in-the-culture-who-are-misunderstood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/id-like-to-celebrate-people-in-the-culture-who-are-misunderstood\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019d like to celebrate people in the culture who are misunderstood"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Billy Corgan<\/a> has spoken to NME<\/em> about his new podcast <\/a>The Magnificent Others, <\/em>being part of Black Sabbath\u2019s final gig<\/a> and the 30th anniversary of The Smashing Pumpkins<\/a>\u2018 seminal album \u2018Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness\u2019.<\/p>\n

The legendary frontman recently launched his latest venture \u2013 The Magnificent Others \u2013 <\/em>which sees Corgan sit down with carefully selected guests such as KISS<\/a>\u2018 Gene Simmons<\/a>\u00a0and former Rage Against The Machine<\/a> guitarist Tom Morello<\/a>\u00a0for an in-depth and candid conversation about the triumphs, challenges, and pivotal moments that shaped their journeys and defined their paths.<\/p>\n

Produced by Bill Maher\u2019s Club Random Studios, The Magnificent Others episodes<\/em> are released every Wednesday. Corgan had already dabbled in podcasting but revealed that he previously lost interest when most companies wanted him to only share his past stories.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen I was recruited by the Bill Maher world to do my own podcast, I was like, \u2018Well, you\u2019re probably not going to want to do what I want to do\u2019 and they said, \u2018Well, tell us\u2019,\u201d Corgan told NME<\/em>. \u201cI said I\u2019d like to celebrate people in the culture that I feel either are misunderstood, overlooked or maybe don\u2019t have the proper perspective from my position about what they\u2019ve actually accomplished. And they said, \u2018Great, we love it\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Check out our full interview below where the iconic musician discusses his process for \u201ccherry picking\u201d his interviewees, trading in the rockstar spotlight for the journalist\u2019s seat, his appearance and collaboration with Morello and Tool<\/a>\u2018s Adam Jones at Black Sabbath\u2019s final gig, what\u2019s in store for the Smashing Pumpkins next, and the band\u2019s 30th anniversary of the classic \u2018Mellon Collie\u2019.<\/p>\n

NME<\/em>: Hi Billy, with there being so many podcasts out there, what was it about your idea that felt unique?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Billy Corgan:<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019d like to celebrate [those acts that have been misunderstood, overlooked] because I feel particularly in American culture, things are so tilted towards influencers and people who are famous but not necessarily for doing anything particularly noteworthy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI only want to talk to people that I am passionately interested in talking to. I don\u2019t see it as a series where publicists throw whoever at us to promote something. It\u2019s really cherry-picked who I\u2019m talking to.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Fans have praised your interviewing skills and asking questions that haven\u2019t been asked before. What was your reaction to that feedback?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI made the mistake of reading about 10 comments when it first dropped. I don\u2019t read comments on myself but was curious because I was interviewing someone else. I was thinking, \u2018Well, how did the interview come across?\u2019 I was about 10 comments in when I saw somebody complaining that I was talking over the guest in a clip. What struck me then is, yes, it\u2019s an interview, but it\u2019s really a conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you see in [the first episode] is that I\u2019ve known Gene for 30 years \u2013 I feel like he respects where I\u2019m coming from, even if he disagrees with me. You can see the nature of that type of conversation. I\u2019m not an interrogator, I\u2019m not being a fanboy. Even though I\u2019m a fan, I really want to understand, from a musical perspective, how they arrived at certain decisions and his own perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at Gene\u2019s journey, starting as an immigrant coming from Israel \u2013 something he\u2019s talked a lot about \u2013 it\u2019s an incredible American story. It usually gets wrapped up in the glitz and Gene\u2019s proclamations about cash and stuff like that, whereas I feel and think many other fans of the band feel it\u2019s really a musical triumph what they accomplished.\u201d<\/p>\n

You mentioned that you were cherry-picking the guests that you wanted to interview. What\u2019s that process like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have any simple answer. It\u2019s just a feel. It\u2019s a 90-minute show. That\u2019s a lot of time to talk. So if you\u2019re really not interested, and you don\u2019t want to dive into one particular area or two of their life, then you\u2019re going to end up asking them questions that they\u2019ve been asked 1000 times. So, it\u2019s a sense that maybe there\u2019s an unexplored area or something that\u2019s been misunderstood or overlooked.\u201d<\/p>\n

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As a journalist, it was inspiring to see you handle the interview and create that conversation \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a wonderful compliment. I have no training in this. I just threw myself into the deep water of sitting in front of someone like Gene who\u2019s been interviewed 10,000 times, and saying, \u2018OK, we\u2019re going to have a 90-minute conversation\u2019. We live in a world where, if people are disinterested, they\u2019re just going to click it off so that pressure was interesting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just found I could kind of do it and I don\u2019t know why. Hopefully, people will see that in the other episodes that we have. They\u2019ll see some sort of consistent voice there that I\u2019m trying to bring. I think people assume that I\u2019m going to be playing the character that I play as me in the rock and roll world, but I have no interest in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Has becoming a podcast host made you reflect on past interviews you have done as a musician, and maybe sympathise with journalists?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cNo. I\u2019m very critical of journalists and have been for a very long time. I feel most journalists fall into a trap, and it\u2019s pretty obvious. It\u2019s like, \u2018What do I have to do or say to get this person to give me the headline that I\u2019m looking for?\u2019 I get it, especially empathetically in a clickbait economy where if you don\u2019t get that pull quote that\u2019s going to go viral, no one\u2019s going to care.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get it empathetically, but as somebody who\u2019s been on the other side of it 1000 times, you can feel when somebody\u2019s being kind of scummy and I\u2019m sensitive to that now in the role of somebody that\u2019s interviewing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simmons has been very vocal about rock being dead<\/a>, due to things like the difficulty of musicians earning a living and the lack of generation-defying bands. Do you agree?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I don\u2019t at all. I\u2019ve said similar silly things in the past. It sounds like a cool headline. I mean, Lenny Kravitz<\/a> wrote a song \u2018Rock Is Dead\u2019. I was on Howard Stern around \u201898 saying rock is dead and Gene said it too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s real, because what happens and what gets overlooked is that the spirit of rock\u2019n\u2019roll is always going to be what kids decide to do in a sort of form of hatred or disgust with what they\u2019re seeing.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, we have had 10-plus years now of just complete pop overload. I know that right now all over the world, there are kids figuring out ways to voice what they\u2019re feeling against this pop hegemonic thing that just won\u2019t stop. I know it\u2019s there. I see it and I feel it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Are there any bands keeping that spirit alive for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe played all summer with The Linda Lindas<\/a>. They\u2019re all heart and spirit and the music\u2019s great. I\u2019m sorry, I don\u2019t know how you listen to that and think that those \u2018kids\u2019 don\u2019t have anything to say.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reaction of the crowds to them, and certainly the respect that they\u2019ve earned from the bands on the tour shows that they\u2019re on to something. Here\u2019s the thing: I don\u2019t need to understand it. It\u2019s not for me, or even Gene, to understand. It\u2019s really for the next generation of kids to feel like someone is speaking for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

What was the craziest moment or story you heard from one of your guests on The Magnificent Others<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to give it away but I was interviewing Dale Bozzio of Missing Persons and I asked her a question about the band, and she said something and said, \u2018Oh, I\u2019ve never said that in public before\u2019. So you\u2019re in that position, like, \u2018OK, well, you said it, and I didn\u2019t ask\u2019. You have those moments where you\u2019re like, \u2018Wow, I can\u2019t believe you just said that\u2019, but that was on you because I wasn\u2019t fishing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Who is your ultimate dream interviewee for the podcast?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI would certainly love to interview Paul McCartney<\/a>. If you saw the series that Rick Rubin did with Paul <\/a>[McCartney 3, 2, 1<\/em>] where they listened to Beatles<\/a> tracks and talked about it, you see that there\u2019s so much incredible information that\u2019s still there in this great history of 50-60 years of making music.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut people tend to go towards all the low-hanging fruit and talk about his relationship with John [Lennon<\/a>] or something, and I just think there\u2019s so much that still hasn\u2019t been covered. I would be happy to talk, even if we just talked about the last 20 years of music instead of the first 40. There\u2019s a lot there to be discussed there.\u201d<\/p>\n

You\u2019re performing at Black Sabbath\u2019s final gig. How are you feeling about saying goodbye to Ozzy and this monumental band?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBlack Sabbath are my favourite all-time band in my heart. I\u2019ve loved Sabbath since I was a kid. I\u2019ve gotten to work with Tony [Iommi]<\/a> on a solo album, and I\u2019ve been around Ozzy<\/a> many times. I\u2019m just in total awe to be involved. When that line-up came out, I couldn\u2019t help but be like, \u2018Wow, I can\u2019t believe I\u2019m a part of this, this is so cool\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be magical. There\u2019s so much love out there for Ozzy. It all comes together on this one magical night. It\u2019s what rock\u2019n\u2019roll is supposed to be about. That\u2019s kinda what I was harping about: it\u2019s ultimately a celebration rather than, \u2018Let\u2019s talk about what happened in 1972\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sharon [Osbourne] shared that you would be joining Tom Morello and Danny Carey from Tool on stage<\/a>\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s actually Adam [Jones] from Tool, not Danny. See, Adam, Tom and I all grew up in the same sort of general vicinity. Tom had this idea \u2013 what he calls \u2018The Illinois Boys\u2019 \u2013 that The Illinois Boys would get together and play, so that\u2019s cool. I love it. I\u2019m very fond and love Adam\u2019s music and playing and I\u2019ve known Tom for 30 years or so, so it\u2019s a cool thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"READING
READING FESTIVAL Photo of SMASHING PUMPKINS\u2019 Billy Corgan (Photo by Mick Hutson\/Redferns)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Smashing Pumpkins\u2019 classic \u2018Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness\u2019. Is there anything in the works for that massive milestone?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are working with the parent label to possibly put out some kind of special edition. I am announcing that I\u2019m doing some solo dates and hope to honour the album as part of that. There\u2019s some other stuff but I can\u2019t talk about just yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s weird because I can\u2019t believe it\u2019s been 30 years. I\u2019m really excited, but at the same time, I\u2019m like \u2018What happened over these last 30 years?’\u201d<\/p>\n

There has been a lot of grunge revivalism as of late. How do you feel about \u201990s nostalgia?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s great. I think anything that involves the guitar and playing loud is always going to work. If they\u2019re citing our contemporaries or us, or even bands that followed, I think it\u2019s great. There\u2019s nothing wrong with it. I mean, we did the same, and that\u2019s just the way it works.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Smashing Pumpkins just announced a massive show at Gunnersbury Park<\/a> with Skunk Anansie<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0White Lies<\/a> as special guests. What can fans expect from that? <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good bill. When we first went to England and played at Reading Festival<\/a> we were overwhelmed by the scope of the crowd, but also the pressure that this gig was important. You felt this extra pressure. We had a show in \u201992 where we completely melted down and I smashed my guitar, and I think I stood on my head in a dress. I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s some faint memory there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe nice thing about playing all these years, especially together, is you now know how to handle those bigger moments. I\u2019m really proud that this particular line-up of the band knows how to rise to those occasions. Whereas when I was young, I would look at those gigs and almost feel intimidated.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, I look at those gigs and I want to rub my hands together because it\u2019s so exciting. It\u2019s a chance to create a one-of-a-kind moment in your life and the audience wants it. They want to see you at your peak and that pressure and feeling is magical when it works.\u201d<\/p>\n

New episodes of The Magnificent Others are released every Wednesday. Visit here<\/a> for Black Sabbath tickets and here<\/a> for tickets and information for Smashing Pumpkins\u2019 Gunnersbury Park gig and 2025 UK shows.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.nme.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n