In a recent interview with William Corgan, better known by all Smashing Pumpkins fans as Billy Corgan (more on that later), the frontman addressed the future of Smashing Pumpkins. He told Radio Oasis in Peru that the future of the band is “murky” and that he’s only thought about the band’s existence “through the end of this year.” You can watch the full video interview above.

During the chat, Corgan pointed to the changing music climate and Smashing Pumpkins’ fans fixation with the past as reasons why he hasn’t thought about the distant future of the Smashing Pumpkins. “Well, the future of The Smashing Pumpkins is kind of murky,” Corgan said. “I’ve only committed to the idea of The Smashing Pumpkins through pretty much the end of this year, and after that I’m going to see how it goes.”

He continued, “I feel like I really need to evaluate the musical purpose of the Pumpkins, because more and more the audience is fixated on the past. I know a lot of the audience will say, ‘Well, I like your music better from the '90s, more than the music you’re making today.’ But I know they’re not listening to the music of today, as much as they were listening to that music. They’re also not listening in the same context. They’re not seeing the same amount of videos that they used to see on MTV, and so people don’t understand the context is key with things like that.”

He finished by saying because of that, there may come a time where he will need to distance himself from the band. “I’m the type of artist that I don’t want to sort of exist in something that is sort of fading like an iceberg into the past," says Corgan. "So I’m happy to do what I’m doing, and I’m very pleased that people still enjoy it.”

So, what’s with the William instead of Bill business? While in Peru, Corgan played a show on March 17, which happened to be his birthday. During that show, fans sang “Happy Birthday” to the frontman and after the serenade Corgan thanked the crowd for the song but corrected them, “My name is not Billy. My name is William.” Once they started chanting his full first name, Corgan said to the crowd, “My mother in Heaven, thanks you.” He then thanked the crowd for being so generous to them. Check out that part of the concert below.

Watch William Corgan Correct Peru Crown on His Name

See the Yearbook Photos of William Corgan + Other Rock Stars

 

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