Billy Corgan, frontman of the influential alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins, has suggested that rock music may have been deliberately pushed out of mainstream culture beginning in the late 1990s.
Speaking on his podcast The Magnificent Others, the singer and songwriter shared the theory during a conversation with writer and cultural commentator Conrad Flynn, as the pair discussed the changing place of rock in modern music.
Corgan argued that the genre’s reduced visibility in popular culture over the past two decades may not simply be a natural shift in musical tastes.
“I think, and I will say it overtly, I think that rock has been purposely dialed down in the culture,” he said.
“Again, this gets ‘wizard behind the curtain,’ right? Somebody’s gonna say, ‘Well, how do you know who was the wizard behind the curtain?’ All I know is I saw the gravity shift.”
Corgan pointed to what he believes was a sudden change in the music industry’s priorities during the late 1990s, particularly around MTV, which at the time played a major role in determining which artists dominated the charts and cultural conversation.
“If you were at MTV or around MTV in 1997 or 1998, suddenly they decided rock was out when rock was still very, very high up in the thing,” he said.
“And it was replaced by rap… Their standards and practices immediately shifted, so now that things that weren’t allowed were suddenly allowed. People were waving guns. Some people assert that the CIA was involved in all that. Again, above my pay grade, but I saw it happen. I did witness it happen.”
The musician later clarified that the rise of hip-hop did not come at the expense of artistic quality, noting that many influential artists emerged during that era.
“Of course, great music came out of it, so it’s not a barren wasteland where something was pushed in that replaced something. Qualitative things and great artists came in, but there was this overt shift. I saw it happen,” he explained.
“And then now, rap … seems to be waning in terms of its cultural influence. Pop is completely dominant. Rock is probably the most dominant ticket-selling thing in the Western world, and yet there’s almost no representation of rock in culture. So, why do we have that schism? I think they purposely dialed down the ability of rock stars to have a voice in the culture.”
Corgan is best known as the lead singer, guitarist and primary songwriter of The Smashing Pumpkins, one of the defining alternative rock bands of the 1990s. Formed in Chicago in 1988, the group rose to global fame during the explosion of alternative rock that also produced bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden.
The band achieved major commercial success with albums including Siamese Dream (1993) and the hugely successful double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995). The latter debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and produced several hit singles, including “1979,” “Tonight, Tonight,” and “Bullet with Butterfly Wings.”
Known for blending alternative rock, dream pop, heavy guitar sounds and orchestral elements, The Smashing Pumpkins became one of the most influential rock acts of their era. By the late 1990s the band had sold tens of millions of records worldwide and regularly headlined major tours and festivals.
After internal tensions and lineup changes, the band initially broke up in 2000, before Corgan revived The Smashing Pumpkins several years later with new members.
Despite their association with the 1990s alternative rock boom, the band has continued releasing music well into the 21st century. Albums such as Zeitgeist (2007), Oceania (2012) and Monuments to an Elegy (2014) marked their return to recording, while more recent releases include Cyr (2020) and the ambitious rock opera Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts (2023).
The band has also reunited several of its classic-era members in recent years, including guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, and continues to tour internationally with strong ticket sales — something Corgan referenced when discussing rock’s ongoing popularity as a live genre.
While rock music may no longer dominate mainstream charts in the way it did during the 1990s, bands like The Smashing Pumpkins remain influential figures in the genre and continue to attract large audiences decades after their breakthrough.
Corgan’s comments have already sparked debate among music fans online, with some agreeing that rock has become less visible in mainstream pop culture, while others argue that the shift simply reflects changing tastes and the rise of new genres.
