Ex-Smashing Pumpkins bassist D’Arcy Wretzky has claimed that frontman Billy Corgan “can’t sing for shit” – while the band themselves have revealed an ongoing legal battle with their former label.
The alt-rock veterans are back, with frontman Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin from the original line-up, joined by longtime recent collaborator Jeff Schroeder. Original bassist D’Arcy Wretzky is not taking part, as an ugly feud continues to unfold.
Now, in the latest excerpt from an interview with Alternative Nation, Wretzky has hit out at Corgan’s temper and approach to fans and fellow musicians.
“Billy used to complain a lot to me and James, because he thought he was so ugly, and he thought we had such great lives,” said Wretzky. “He’d be like, ‘You two are better looking than 90% of the rest of the people on the planet! You have this, and you have that! My life is miserable! Blah blah blah!’ Over and over, and over again! He thinks he’s ugly, so he surrounds himself with beautiful people.
“He can’t sing for shit, and he knows it, so he makes sure that everybody else in the band is going to play perfectly to make up for it. It doesn’t matter if his singing is terrible, but if you play a fucking wrong note or anything, there is hell to pay. That’s some big time insecurity.”
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She added that behind closed doors, Corgan also “fucking hates the fans”.
“He really loves to humiliate people at shows and stuff with the audience,” she continued. “He told me that he actually believed that the audience wanted to be like, the way he always used to scream and bitch at the audience and stuff, he told me he really thought people wanted that. I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ He’s like, ‘No, really, I did?’ Why would anybody want to be humiliated in front of thousands or hundreds of people in public, and have their idol diss them? Why would anyone want that?”
“There are people who thrive on that, but most people don’t. I think they’re called masochists.”
However, Corgan recently took to Instagram to share a heartfelt message to fans for supporting the reunion comeback, as well as mentioning various sold-out shows in response to reports that tickets to the tour were not selling well.
Corgan also took to social media to speak out against an ongoing legal battle with their old record label regarding rights to their back catalogue.
In marking the 18th anniversary of their final album before their initial break-up ‘Machina’, Corgan wrote: “It’s nice to see where so many younger fans have found and resonated with this work, which despite being often misunderstood or disregarded has seen a sort of restoration with time. On the question of when a reissue would be made available (reuniting pts 1 + 2 with a copious amount of additional work), the legal squabble with our inherited label continues (meaning they purchased our catalog from Gish to Machina from old masters EMI and take scant possession of the legacy, much less any present or future plans to promote said work). Which is a curious thing…
“That said, I have made overtures to purchase the catalog by putting together a group of investors; only to be rebuffed, because ‘it’s too valuable to be sold.’”
It is hoped that album release details and further world tour dates will be announced shortly.