Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan Discusses His Childhood Trauma with His Kids: I ‘Dole It Out Where Appropriate’

Billy Corgan does not hide his past from his children.

The Smashing Pumpkins frontman and father of two, 56, got personal REINVENTED with Jen Eckhart in a candid conversation covering his journey from childhood to fatherhood.

In a PEOPLE exclusive first look at his podcast appearance, the “1979” singer confirmed that his father once told him that the abuse he suffered as a child was “good” because it “made [him] better rock star.”

“Yeah, that’s a quote,” he told host Jen Eckhart, adding, “It’s pretty funny, if you think about it.”

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Chloe Mendel, Billy Corgan and their children, Augustus and Philomena.

Chloe Mendel Corgan/ Instagram

Reflecting on how his childhood influenced his parenting, Corgan said, “I absolutely believe in the concept of generational trauma.”

“I mean, a lot of what we were taught or weren’t taught or what we went through as kids — my brother and I — I think is a result of what our parents were taught or weren’t taught,” he said, adding that “it’s just mathematics.”

“Even to the concept of ‘Yes, I hit you, but I hit you less than I was hit,’ so this is better,” he said, adding that he had “heard” that from parents before.

Billy Corgan and wife Chloe Mendel share trick-or-treating scenes with their costumed children

As for whether he and wife Chloe Mendel talk about their past struggles and traumas with their children — son Augustus, 8, and daughter Philomena, 5 — the singer said, “We talk about it occasionally.”

“Actually, I talked to my son this morning about certain things that are kind of loosely related to what you asked,” Corgan said, adding that his philosophy is “to share it where it’s appropriate.”

Chloe Mendel, Billy Corgan and their children, Augustus and Philomena.

Chloe Mendel Corgan/ Instagram

“For example, I told my kids some stories about my dad beating my dad and me, and my kids, being kids, turned it into a story about my dad being bad, as kids do, like is the villain in a superhero movie,” Corgan told Eckhart.

He continued: “One day we were driving down the road and my daughter started saying something about my father being bad or me not loving my father or something, and I said, ‘No, no. I love my dad. I love my father.'”

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The “Today” singer said he thinks it’s “important” to try to give kids a “balanced sense of the conflict in it.”

“What you’re giving them — as much as they’re capable of understanding at 8 and 5 years old — let’s call it the quantum aspect of how you can both love and have problems with someone in your life,” he added. “If it wasn’t as simple as dividing the world into good guys and bad guys.”

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Elsewhere in REINVENTED episode, Corgan talked about addiction and how it manifested itself in his life in an atypical way – at least for his profession.

Billy Corgan (left) performs with his band The Smashing Pumpkins in Michigan in September 2023.

Scott Legato/Getty

The “Zero” rocker said he told himself he was “lucky” he didn’t become addicted to “that things” while simultaneously developing an addiction to “other things that you could argue were just as corrosive to my life.”

“I don’t think I got rid of the addiction, I think I got rid of the primary addictions that most people associate with being a musician,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean there weren’t other addictions, including my need to constantly work, to my detriment.”

REINVENTED with Jen Eckhart is now available.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the SAMHSA Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.

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Source: HIS Education