Billy Corgan is one of the most influential musical artists of the alternative rock scene. As a singer, guitarist and songwriter of alternative rock band, The Smashing Pumpkins, he has left his mark on music history with multiple multi-platinum records and one diamond record.
Corgan himself, with all of his accolades, is still no stranger to controversy. Corgan is notorious for calling popular or trending songs a knock-off or rip-off of his work with The Smashing Pumpkins. Many of these accusations have no real merit to them and come from Corgan’s hubris, but others can have strong claims made for them.
The first song that Corgan claims is a rip-off is “Plush” by Stone Temple Pilots. This is one of Corgan’s more shallow claims as the only reason he claims this song is a copy is due to the similar wording. Corgan went on to say in a 2025 interview that the famous line in “Plush” “And I feel, and I feel” is lifted from Corgan’s song “Suffer.” Now the reason as to why this is one of Corgan’s more shallow claims is because those lyrics never appear in “Suffer” nor does the melody in which they were sung.
The next claim that Corgan makes is that Nirvana’s hit single “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is a direct copy of The Smashing Pumpkins as a whole. Corgan’s argument is that the way that Nirvana produced “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is stolen from the way that The Smashing Pumpkins produces music. Corgan’s biggest take-aways was that the layering work on the guitars was a technique that he created and the overall vibe of the song was too similar to his work. The validity of this claim is still disputed due to the fact that Corgan can’t call dibs on a layering technique or an overall sound of a song.
In a 2024 interview, Corgan brought up Metallica and how their song “Fuel” seemed “awfully close” to his song “Tales of a Scorched Earth.” Now, Corgan was not calling this a rip-off, but he does say that he subconsciously inspired James Hatfield of Metallica to write the riff for “Fuel.” “Fuel” does have similarities to “Tales of a scorched Earth,” but even Corgan acknowledges it may just be coincidence.
The most infamous claim that Corgan has made is definitely his opinion on the song “Shine” by Collective Soul. Corgan calls the song a total rip-off of his song “Drown.” He took the claim to the next level and decided to sue Collective Soul for copyright infringement. Corgan ended up dropping the claim when Collective Soul proved that they had demos of “Shine” recorded before “Drown” released.
Corgan’s claims can be seen in a multitude of ways. Opinions vary with some saying he is a narcissist while others believe that he is an exploited genius.