Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan on why he asks people to call him William
Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan has explained why he wants to go by the name “William”, and joked that the decision was partly spurred by Diddy.The singer-songwriter was talking in an interview on The Mistress Carrie Podcast earlier this month when the topic arose, and he explained why he released his 2017 solo record under his given name, William Patrick Corgan.Explaining the choice in wrestling terms — as he is a fan of pro wrestling and the owner of National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) — he said: “The way I see it in my brain is…Billy is like my stage name at this point; it’s how everybody knows me. And for anybody who knows wrestling, we mostly in wrestling call people by their stage names.“Even if I know somebody’s real name, I’ll still call them by their gimmick name.