On the History of Billy Corgan

born William Patrick "Billy" Corgan, Jr. on March 17th, 1967. Billy Corgan is most famously known as the frontman for the popular alt. rock band, The Smashing Pumpkins. he is also a songwriter and a poet.

Billy is the oldest child of William Sr., a blues guitarist and Martha Corgan. after having their second son, Ricky, the couple split up in 1970. Billy was only three years old. Billy and his brother went to live with their remarried father in Glendale Heights, IL. during his time there, Corgan suffered metal and physical abuse by his stepmother. then in 1976, his father and stepmother had Billy's half-brother, Jesse. Jesse was born with Cerebral Palsy, Tourette Syndrome, and other mental disorders. Corgan spent most of his time caring for and defending him.

in elementary school, Billy was super athletic. he played on the baseball team, as well as collected baseball cards. in high school, Billy stopped playing sports and focused more on music. some of the bands he liked were Black Sabbath, Queen, Rush, Cheap Trick, Bauhaus, and The Cure. he was offered many scholarships for collage, but refused. he chose to pursue music full-time.

Corgan met guitarist James Iha while working in a record store. the two soon began recording demos together. Billy later described them as "doomy little goth-pop demos".

he later met the would-be bassist, D'arcy Wretzky after a local show. they were arguing about the band that had just played. soon after meting D'arcy, The Smashing Pumpkins were formed. they started out with a drum machine before getting drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. Jimmy was recruited to get a show at the Metro in Chicago. in 2000, they broke up.

in blog posts on Myspace and his own site, he blamed Iha for the bands break up. in 2004, he went on to have a solo career. it wasn't till 2005 that Billy wrote the Chicago Tribune and Sun-times about wanting the band to get back together. a few days later, Jimmy Chamberlin took Billy up on his offer.

April 20th, 2006, The Smashing Pumpkins official reunited. with new members Ginger Pooley and Jeff Schroeder, The Smashing Pumpkins went back to the studio to record the album, Zeityeist.

Corgan struggled most of his life with depression. he endured bouts of self-injury, obsessive-compulsive disorder and suicidal thoughts( his song "Today" is about a time he tried to kill himself, but thought against it. he said the song was about how today was a good day to live, because he didn't die.). his mother died Dec. 1996. the song "For Martha" from the 'Adore' album is about her. he later named his music lable Martha's Music. in 1993 he married his girlfriend, Chris Fabian. they spilt sometime in 1996, then later divorced in 1997. in 1995 he started dating photographer Yelena Yemchuk. the song "Stand inside your love" is about her. he is currently not dating and is still working on songs with the latest line up for The Smashing Pumpkins.