Billy Corgan is an American musician, songwriter, producer, and entrepreneur best known for his groundbreaking alternative rock band, The Smashing Pumpkins. Corgan was born in Elk Grove Village, Illinois on March 17, 1967. He is the oldest of four children and was raised in a conservative Catholic family.
Corgan began playing guitar at the age of 12 and formed his first band, The Marked, shortly after. He then went on to form The Smashing Pumpkins in 1988 with James Iha, D'arcy Wretzky, and Jimmy Chamberlain. The band quickly became one of the most popular alternative bands of the 1990s, selling over 30 million albums worldwide.
The Smashing Pumpkins released their debut album, Gish, in 1991 to critical acclaim, and went on to release a string of commercially and critically successful albums in the following years, including Siamese Dream (1993), Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995), Adore (1998), and Machina (2000). The band went on hiatus in 2000, and Corgan released his first solo album, TheFutureEmbrace, in 2005.
In 2006, Corgan reunited with The Smashing Pumpkins and released the album Zeitgeist in 2007. The band have since released two more albums, Oceania (2012) and Monuments to an Elegy (2014). Corgan has also released two solo albums, Ogilala (2017) and Cotillions (2019).
In addition to his music career, Corgan is also an entrepreneur. He owns a professional wrestling promotion called Resistance Pro Wrestling, as well as a tea house in Chicago called Madame Zuzu’s. He is also a founding partner of the Chicago-based record label ZWAN Records.
Corgan has been nominated for 13 Grammy Awards and is widely considered to be one of the most influential and innovative rock musicians of the last two decades. He continues to tour and perform with The Smashing Pumpkins, and is currently working on a new album with the band.
Birthday
March 17, 1967
