In a recent conversation that veered into unexpectedly dark territory, Billy Corgan opened up about William Corgan Sr, a man as enigmatic as he was dangerous. Far from the image of a supportive, suburban dad, William Corgan Sr. lived a double life: one as gifted musician, the other entangled in a world of shadows, fast cash, and high stakes.
“He was a drug dealer, he would run guns for the mob. He would do things like…”
– Billy Corgan on The Joe Rogan Experience, Episode #2283
By trade, he was a jazz guitarist. By necessity, he was something else entirely. He ran in circles that didn’t ask questions, handled business that didn’t make the family scrapbook, and somehow managed to live long enough to tell the tales.
Billy grew up watching it all unfold, taking mental notes whether he wanted to or not. The lessons weren’t always easy, but they stuck. Decades later, those experiences would bleed into his music, shaping the brooding, cerebral force behind The Smashing Pumpkins.
But before we get to that, let’s go back to the beginning. back to the streets where William Corgan Sr. played his way into rooms he probably shouldn’t have been in. and back to the choices that nearly got him killed..
The Musician Who Almost Made It
Long before the drugs, the guns, and the near-death encounters, William Corgan Sr. was just another young guitarist trying to carve out a name for himself in Chicago’s jazz scene. He had the talent, enough to turn heads in smoky clubs where the real players gathered. and when he played, people listened. But in a city where connections mattered as much as ability, raw skill could only take you so far.
He had dreams of making it big, certainly desires of hearing his name mentioned alongside the greats. according to Billy He gigged relentlessly, toured the country, and even brushed against the edges of real success. But the music business is unforgiving. Some guys get the break, some don’t. And when things didn’t fall into place, Corgan Sr. started looking for opportunities outside the clubs.. places where the money was faster, the risks were higher, and the consequences were permanent.
Billy remembers his father as a man caught between two worlds. One foot in the music scene, the other in something far more dangerous. Maybe it was bad luck. Maybe it was bad decisions. Most likely, it was both. Whatever the case, the path to stardom faded, and a different kind of life took its place.
SECRET’S BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
“So I remember one day I was walking past the bedroom and I saw a guitar case under the bed and I was like, ‘Oh, I wonder what that is. Did he get a new guitar?’ So I went and slipped the thing out and I flipped it open… It was a sawed-off shotgun in a guitar case. Just laying there..”
Joe Rogan Podcast #1038
Billy doesn’t sugarcoat it. “My father was a musician… but he was also dealing drugs, running guns, and involved with the mob,” he told Joe Rogan (https://amzn.to/42cmqUW), barely blinking as he said it. It wasn’t just whispers or exaggerations—this was the life his father lived. The kind where one bad deal could get you buried in an alley, and trust was worth less than a stack of crumpled bills.
Somehow, he kept surviving. Billy recalled the stories, each one more brutal than the last. “My father survived being shot at nine times and stabbed three times.” Not the kind of thing most kids hear at the dinner table. But for Corgan Sr., it was just part of the life he had chosen—or the life that had chosen him.
That life didn’t just exist outside the front door. It was inside the house too. The kind of place where curiosity could lead to something a kid should never see.
“When I was a kid, my father was a musician, so I remember I used to—like, I wasn’t allowed to touch his guitars, but I was allowed to look at them,” Billy told Rogan in an earlier interview. “So I remember one day I was walking past the bedroom and I saw a guitar case under the bed and I was like, ‘Oh, I wonder what that is. Did he get a new guitar?’ So I went and slipped the thing out and I flipped it open… It was a sawed-off shotgun in a guitar case. Just laying there, you know, in the house.”
That wasn’t a one-time shock. Open the wrong drawer, and you’d find stacks of cash. Check the wrong closet, and there’d be bricks of weed. Billy saw it all. He learned early on that his home wasn’t like the homes of other kids. His father’s business didn’t operate out of an office, and the people who came and went weren’t just old bandmates reminiscing about gigs.
Long-Lost Brother.. OR Just a Viral Joke
For years, fans on the internet have joked about the uncanny resemblance between Billy Corgan and comedian Bill Burr. Side-by-side photos circulated on social media, memes popped up comparing their expressions, and fans couldn’t help but wonder—was there more to it than just a striking similarity?
At first, it was all in good fun. A harmless internet joke. But then Billy’s own family added fuel to the fire.
“My stepmother, at one point, told me, ‘I think you have a brother, and I think it’s Bill Burr,’” Billy recalled. That’s not exactly the kind of thing you expect to hear over dinner, but given everything else about his father’s past, it wasn’t out of the question.
William Corgan Sr. wasn’t known for being a family man. He had plenty of secrets, and if there was another son out there, it wouldn’t have been a shock. The timeline even kind of fit—Burr was born in 1968, Billy in 1967. The resemblance was undeniable, and the internet had already done half the detective work.
But was there any real proof? Not exactly. As far as either Corgan or Burr know, they’re not actually related. Bill Burr himself has laughed off the idea, and Billy has never pursued it beyond his stepmother’s casual theory.
Still, the idea refuses to die. Every time the two men appear in the public eye, the memes resurface, and fans continue speculating. Maybe it’s just a coincidence, or maybe there’s a family secret waiting to be uncovered. With William Corgan Sr.’s past, anything is possible.
THE LEGACY OF CHAOS
Corgan has never been shy about his struggles—whether with authority, relationships, or the music industry itself. He’s always been a man who carves his own path, never quite trusting the system. Maybe that’s because, from an early age, the only thing he could count on was himself. His father taught him that the world was a dangerous place, and in many ways, Billy never stopped navigating it like a man waiting for the next move to be made against him.
But despite all the mystery and half-truths surrounding his father, there was supposed to be some closure. Before William Corgan Sr. passed, he had promised Billy a list—one that would name all of his supposed children. A final attempt at honesty, a chance to piece together the fractured history he had left behind.
That list never came. Whatever names were on it, whatever truth it held, went with him to the grave.
Maybe that’s the perfect ending to a story like this—unfinished, just like the man himself. William Corgan Sr. was a musician who never got his big break, an outlaw who never got caught, and a father whose full story may never be known. But for Billy, the echoes of that life still live on, not just in his blood, but in his music.
Sources Cited
- The Joe Rogan Experience – Episode #1038 (2017)
- Billy Corgan first discusses his father’s criminal past and the shocking discovery of a sawed-off shotgun in a guitar case.
- Available on YouTube: Joe Rogan Experience #1038 – Billy Corgan
- The Joe Rogan Experience – Episode #2283 (2024)
- Billy Corgan expands on his father’s ties to drugs, gun-running, and the mob, revealing more details about his violent past.
- Available on Spotify & YouTube: Joe Rogan Experience #2283 – Billy Corgan
- Billy Corgan’s Instagram (@wpccodex)
- A rare photo of William Corgan Sr., giving fans a glimpse of the man behind the mystery.
- Instagram Post: Billy Corgan’s Father
- Howie Mandel’s Instagram (@howiemandel)
- The viral meme comparing Billy Corgan and Bill Burr, fueling internet speculation about a possible family connection.
- Instagram Post: Bill Burr & Billy Corgan Meme
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