Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan was asked about being one of the last surviving voices of the Grunge era/90’s alternative rock in a new San Francisco Chronicle interview.
The interviewer asked, “You’re the last man standing of a certain tribe. Do you ever look around and think, ‘How did I survive?'”
Corgan responded with high praise for his fallen contemporaries, “I really grieve those who are not taking the journey with me. Speaking as someone from a generation, it grieves me that there are not so many great voices that are not along for the ride and helping bolster the argument that our generation was incredibly valuable and continues to be valuable.”
Corgan also stated in the interview that he has no interest in continuing under the Smashing Pumpkins name without his original bandmates James Iha, Jimmy Chamberlin, and D’arcy Wretzky.
“I would say over time it took me time to realize how people identified certain people and certain voices to a certain time. In their minds, the Smashing Pumpkins is very much stamped James, D’arcy, Billy and Jimmy. I’m not that interested in doing Smashing Pumpkins anymore without the original members involved because it just doesn’t feel as good as it should feel.”