Billy Corgan on his respect for Olivia Rodrigo: “She’s not afraid”
Billy Corgan has shared his admiration for Olivia Rodrigo, praising her songwriting as being “free” and “not afraid”.
The Smashing Pumpkins frontman shared his thoughts on the ‘Deja Vu’ singer on a new episode of The New York Times’ Popcast, when he was asked why he has been using his platform to champion newer acts including Sombr and Yungblud.
Another name that was mentioned was Olivia Rodrigo, with the hosts saying that they noticed some similarities between her music and classics from The Smashing Pumpkins including ‘1979’ and ‘Disarm’.
Sharing what he thinks of the pop star, Corgan described her as “so smart” and “super savvy”, before sharing what it is that he thinks makes her stand out.
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“I don’t know her much, but she’s figured out that the way to break free is to be free,” he said. “She’s like, ‘Bring me all these influences.’ She’s not afraid. She’s not afraid to make an imperfect song. She’s not afraid to have one vocal slightly out of tune. Pop stars should be as authentic in their game as rock stars are authentic in their game.”
Corgan brought out Rodrigo as a special guest this summer when Smashing Pumpkins topped the bill at Lollapalooza in August – the band’s first performance at at the festival since they headlined its travelling 1994 edition – where he duetted with the singer on ‘Thirty-Three’ from 1995’s ‘Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness’.
He joins a growing number of huge names to share their love of the ‘Driving License’ singer, with others including Mick Jagger, who praised her for her ability to “change styles from what original girly pop stuff is” (via Billboard), and Jack White, who described her as “very cool” and “very real”.
Another big name to share support for Rodrigo is The Cure’s Robert Smith, who collaborated with her on the single ‘What’s Wrong With Me’, joined her at Glastonbury 2025, and revealed that he became a fan after hearing breakout single ‘Drivers License’.
This month saw Rodrigo continue her campaign for third album ‘You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love’ by joining forces with Chappell Roan for a new remix of ‘Expectations’, and enlisted David Byrne and Dan Nigro for the music video.
The same Popcast interview also saw Corgan defend his decades-long friendship with Marilyn Manson, saying that he “personally didn’t feel that he was guilty” of the sexual misconduct claims the shock-rocker has been accused of but denies and that he “doesn’t want the world to tell me who my friends are and who I should associate with”.
Corgan recently completed a run of UK and European shows celebrating ‘Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness’, reimagining the record with a 60-piece orchestra.
Heaping more praise upon other artists, the frontman also recently hailed Blink-182‘s Travis Barker as the “most influential” drummer of the last 30 years when he interviewed him on his own The Magnificent Others podcast.
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