Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins has voiced his opinion regarding all of those "greatest guitar player" lists, arguing he belongs higher up in the ranks than he has landed in the past.
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Speaking with Guitar World, Corgan explains, “Most people don’t even recognize my contributions as a guitar player... They don’t even assume I’m the one playing a lot of the guitar," on his releases with The Smashing Pumpkins, he says.
“You have these silly lists that come out about the greatest guitar players," Corgan continues. "I usually don’t even make those lists. Or they’ll put me behind somebody who I could play circles around.”
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"I don’t mean to denigrate the people in front of me," he adds, "but come on, you know?” Billy continues, “I’m writing the song, lyrics, melodies, arrangements and playing most of the complicated guitar. And I’m capable of doing a solo on top of that. I think that’s hard for people to process… They don’t want to believe one person can do all those things.”
Discussing his past, Corgan explained, “I’ve played on stage with George Lynch and Uli Jon Roth, two of the greatest guitar players in history. I sat for hours across from Eddie Van Halen at 5150 with my jaw open, watching Eddie play, okay? My father was a great guitar player. I’ve got no problem acknowledging some of the greatest guitar players ever.”
“I would never even put myself in their company," he says of the artists that have inspired him over the years, but believes "there’s a lot of people who pretend to play guitar. I certainly have no problem believing I’m better than a lot of them.”
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The Smashing Pumpkins are currently touring overseas celebrating the release of their 13th studio album, 2024's Aghori Mori Mei.