Music

Billy Corgan cussed out Deerhunter's Bradford Cox over bottled water

by Dan MacRae

It’s a lesson that needs to be taught on the first day of support act school: Don’t fuck with a ’90s rock icon’s bottled water.

Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox found this out the hard way in 2007, and in 2015 he shared the story with the world. At a recent show in North Carolina, Cox regaled the crowd with the tale of his time as an opener for Smashing Pumpkins eight years back. Playing the same Asheville venue way back yonder, Cox discovered that Pumpkins singer Billy Corgan and his posse aren’t the cute cuddlebugs you imagine they might be.

Cox shared that after playing the opening slot, he grabbed a VOSS Water (the most tube-y water on the market!) from a pyramid of bottles. This was apparently a major no-no and he was chastised by Corgan’s crew. He even got a “What the fuck are you doing? This is Mr. Corgan’s water” before being (allegedly) shoved up against a wall. Cox says Deerhunter’s then-bassist Josh Fauver lunged at the shove-y water czar in response.

According to Cox, he got chewed out the following night by Corgan in an encounter that sounds like it would be difficult to sit through with a straight face. Here’s the lowdown via Pitchfork:

“They bring me out to the stage, and he says to me, ‘I hear you’ve been causing a lot of trouble. Do you know who you are? You’re shit. You’re a shitty little insignificant fucking indie rock band, and you were invited, not by me—who knows what fucking idiot in my management did this—but you were invited to open for the Smashing Pumpkins.'”

Boom! You just got mad dadded, Bradford… OR DID HE??? (Yes, he probably did.)

As is customary with these sorts of things, Cox’s comments have prompted multiple responses from the parties involved.

Corgan’s camp sent a statement to Pitchfork that not only denied Cox’s claims, but also hinted at legal action if a retraction wasn’t on its way.

“Several eyewitnesses can attest that Cox’s account is a complete fabrication, probably to get some much needed attention. He is correct about one thing, that the whole thing is on tape, and that we have a video of the encounter. Since this is intentionally slanderous, I will likely suggest we pursue charges unless a retraction is forthcoming.”

Said retraction would arrive not too long after the Pumpkins statement. Cox released a lengthy letter apologizing for his “big fucking mouth” and declaring that he feels particularly awful in light of Corgan’s recent written tribute to Scott Weiland. He says he’s retracting his previous comments “out of respect.” Read Cox’s full letter here.

Firstly, I would like to say that my intention was not to defame Billy Corgan. What I did was open my big fucking mouth and go off on one of my usual tangents. Some people call this “stage banter.” I do not need, or seek any attention, and in fact was embarrassed that this ended up being uploaded to Youtube, and then considered a news story. The story I told was just a contextual rap about something that happened at the venue we were playing – 8 years ago. I will be the first to admit that there are two sides to every story and it is unfair that I gave mine without the other party being there to counter.

In the end, we guess this means you can invite both Cox and Corgan to your holiday party with only minimal fuss. Lucky you!

[h/t Pitchfork]