Billy Corgan Continues His Charm Offensive

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Dec 11, 2014 7:00PM

The Internet is in an uproar over recent comments by Billy Corgan, but are his statements really all that outrageous?

Corgan recently compared himself more than favorably to the genius of Kurt Cobain, and we admit we figured that was probably a one-off unguarded moment during a long interview. These things happen. And we know from experience that Corgan is more than happy to chat about everything that's on his mind, often in winding and entertaining conversation. In the initial interview with The Independent, Corgan spoke of himself and Cobain, saying, "He and I were the top two scribes, and everybody else was a distant third.” He then went on to knock Eddie Vedder's response to Cobain' passing, saying, "Somehow he makes it about him even when it’s about somebody else!"

Again, these moments happen so we initially just wrote it off. However on an appearance on the Howard Stern Show on Tuesday, instead of glossing over the comments Corgan decide to double down on them. Continuing the discussion of Cobain, Corgan did diss Pearl Jam's general body of work, but went on to clarify some of his thoughts specifically about Vedder, saying:

“I haven’t been in a social frame with the guy in I don’t know how long but I think a lot of people are transformed by fame. I knew one person and then there was another person. I’m another person so maybe he felt the same way about me. You can’t blame him. He was on the cover of ‘TIME’ magazine, not me and dealt with a level of fame that I never dealt with, so I can’t say what that feels like.”

Fair enough, but then he went on to comment on Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, saying:

“To me, my criticism of the Foo Fighters, if I’m being a music critic is that they just haven’t evolved and that’s sort of the recent wrap on them is, you know, making the same music."

Which again, is fair enough. Of course all over the Internet these quotes are being presented as shots across the bow of fellow musicians, but when taken in context they are obviously only part of a more nuanced conversation Corgan is having. And Corgan's own response to the hullabaloo?

Fair enough.

[h/t Loudwire]