Billy Corgan - he's like Jesus, in a way.
Whatever I can do, I will, 'cause I want to... - Settle Down, Zwan

Billy, Billy, Billy. We all know that no one on the planet comes even close to your genius, but isn't money and fame enough for you?

Of course not, because now that he has billycorgan.com he has a public soapbox where he can preach about the wonders of God, squee over the cuteness of his kittens, and vilify his ex-bandmates.

First off, back in February, Billy decided to blame James Iha for the breakup of the Pumpkins. Spelling and punctuation is *all* his.

"...in the months to come, I am going to share some things with you that you have never heard me say...that doesn't mean I'm rewriting history, that means that I'm going to tell you the truth about who I am and what I believe in my heart...a lot of thing that I have said thru the years seemed confusing, like I was hiding something, and often times I was...'why', you might ask? Many times I hid things to protect my band mates...for example its been almost 4 years since I went my friend tami's radio show and announced that the pumpkins were breaking up...that day, when she asked why we were breaking up, I said something silly like 'I'm tired of fighting britney blah blah'...and it went on to be widely quoted, as if I was breaking up my love, my band, because of some pop star...13 years of my life, and you know, let's pack it in because their teeth are whiter...by saying that, I was seen as someone who was crying foul, taking his ball, and going home...which was sad cause it wasn't true at all...The truth of the matter is that james iha broke up the smashing pumpkins...not me, not jimmy, but james...did it help that d'arcy was fired for being a mean spirited drug addict, who refused to get help? No, that didn't help keep the band together, not at all...it made it very hard to go on, but we soldiered thru even though our hearts were broken...But d'arcy didn't break up the band, we didn't let her...and jimmy didn't want to break up the band, not at that time...and I would have gone on forever...the smashing pumpkins were essentially my entire life...a dream I still believe in...many friends at that time suggested letting james leave, so jimmy and I could continue on under the name...but I was too loyal to the man I started the whole thing with, and I protected him until the very end...right up until the last show on dec 2, 2002, when he thanked d'arcy on stage, but not the 2 men standing next to him...and I was loyal until he left the metro without even saying goodbyle, or an 'its been great boys!', or a simple "I love you" to us...no, james iha left the metro that night without saying goodbye to the 2 people he had won and lost and traveled the world with...so I won't be protecting him anymore...and I won't be protecting a whole lot of other people anymore...not because I don't love them (I Do!!) but because I love myself too...I want to say one more thing, and that is I appreciate you reading this... I want to remind you that I love you...God has given me the strength to say that to you, and I hope that you don't hide who you are...does it made me sad that I have hid myself all these years? No, it was what I had to do to survive, or at least what I 'thought' I needed to do...but surviving is not enough...we all deserve to flourish, and I know that happiness and joy...that is my new dream...the smashing pumpkins gave me that, and I am eternally grateful...especially to those that shared in the dream with me...even if you bought just one cd, or came to a show, you gave us that chance...we thank you for that...even if we don't always know how to show it...be well!! William"

A few days later, James Iha responds.

"Setting the record straight

I'm posting this here because BC hasn't set up a messageboard at his new site yet...

I just want to say that this thing about me breaking up the pumpkins isn't true, at all. the breakup was a joint decision...everyone realised it was coming to the end of the road and we were hitting a brick wall. it wasn't about me at all...everyone close to the band knows that, and billy knows it too. we sat down and had a meeting about it towards the end of the machina tour, and we were all in agreement that we should wrap things up, including jimmy and billy. I haven't spoken to him since then...and I'm saddened by the fact that he feels the need to use his weblog to rewrite history and bring up whatever bitterness he has stored from the past. because anyone who was with the band in the last days (ask melissa auf der maur) will tell you that the breakup was a collective decision, it wasn't about me. I'm not interested in getting into an argument about it because for me it's water under the bridge, but I wanted to give my side of the story for what it's worth.

peace out,

James"

Now, I know they're both completely full of shit. Billy is an egotistical pain in the ass, who KNOWS he's a genius and won't ever shut the fuck up about it and James is a whiny, passive-agressive jerkoff. Both of them both like to play the martyr card. But c'mon - why does the rest of the universe have to be privvy to their sad ex-rockstar battles?

Things sort of blow over and the industry world gets quiet - until last week, when Billy decided the Pumpkins horse had been beaten to a bloody pulp, and it was high time to go after to go after Zwan.

"...when the zwan record came out, i was questioned many times about my religious beliefs because of the inclusion of the song "jesus"...the basic question went something like this "are you a spiritual person" or "have you discovered God" or my favorite, "are you born again"?...i did not feel that a cd release on a major label that i was out there trying to hawk a bunch of immoral band mates (that does not include jimmy, by the way...he is one of the best men i know) was a place to talk about the deepest of issues...no, the internet is!!! :) jus' kiddin'..."

Of course, then David Pajo has to respond over on the Papa M messageboard (because he's not cool enough to have his own blog like Billy) and then the spooge begins to fly.

"hey I'm actually glad this was brought up

I've definitely taken the high road in regard to the z*** issue, because, even though I don't approve of the way things were handled, I've tried to be democratic and approach z*** from someone who loves instead of someone who hates. and I'd like to believe that the joy we had in the beginning was real and not a manipulation by someone who wanted to cash in on the p*******.

but b**** is spreading BLATANT UNTRUTHS about me, about paz, and about matt... I would love to tell the world the truth about what happened, about what really killed z***, about MORALITY. but I don't want to start a war, I want to forgive and forget.

mostly forget.

I never cared before, I'm more than happy to take the blame for being the "cancer" in z***, even though its completely untrue. I just know that b**** has to blame someone and I have nothing to lose, go ahead and dump it all on me.

I'd just like to put it behind me, so yeah... blame the asians (he thinks we're all sneaky anway, go figure). blame james for destroying the p*******, blame me for destroying z***. who cares?

but this is just getting ridiculous... I mean, if I'm going to take all the blame, why don't I take all the credit (and all the money) too?

it's obvious, I can't take the credit, I can't take the money, I can't take the blame. and anyone with half a brain can see it too.

I mean, I didn't make a dime from z***. I made enough to stay broke. someone in the band walked away with millions and it wasn't me, it wasn't paz, and it wasn't matt...

of all the people in the band, I stayed the most in the background and did my best not to rock the boat, I had the least amount of involvement. it just makes me an easy target if you need someone to blame. so draw your arrows, do your worst.

I'm not going to tell the world the truth, because its reactionary. but I'd like to write it down, for myself, and maybe the world will see it in thirty years or something... because b****'s trying to re-write history, and I'd like to put it down THE WAY IT REALLY WENT DOWN. not the way he twists it so that he comes out the innocent victim of our outrageous, shrewd personalities!

honestly, anyone that knows me KNOWS I'm just a geek that can barely find a pair of socks that match, and that my ambitions have nothing to do with bringing anyone down in any way at all. I couldn't be shrewd if I tried, because I don't look that far ahead, and honestly I just don't care enough!!!

I was there, as an observer, unjudgemental. any injustices I felt I kept to myself or only shared with close friends. but all this character assassination he's doing is pure vanity... and I refuse to resort to that level.

anyhoo

I apologize for this rant, I just had to vent. one of these days the record will be set straight, but I don't want to be the one to do it.

carry on, people!

there's so much great music ahead, from b****, from jimmy, from matt, from paz, from all of us... I don't want one person's demons to change your appreciation of any of it."

Woe, poor Pajo. He's hacked off that his cross isn't QUITE as tall as Billy's.

Isn't it nice to see that rock stars wank just like the rest of us?