Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan reveals he may be related to Bill Burr

Billy Corgan has a stunning confession.

The 57-year-old revealed he may be related to comedian Bill Burr following his stepmother’s suspicions.

After Howie Mandel realized he had a picture of Burr, 56, behind him instead of Corgan on Tuesday’s episode of the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast, the Smashing Pumpkins founder realized it was an honest mistake.

“It happens,” Corgan said. “Me and Bill Burr memes. If I had Bill Burr’s money, I would be happy being Bill Burr.”

Although he “guarantees” he doesn’t have Burr’s money, he does did have a story about your possible relationship.

“I’ve never told anyone,” he began. “In fact, most of my friends don’t even know this story.”

“About ten years ago one of my brothers was having a birthday party and my stepmother was there, who was obviously married to my father. And my stepmother said to me, “Do you know who Bill Burr is?” At that point I had never heard of Bill Burr, I didn’t know who he was. I didn’t know he was a comedian or anything. He could have been the guy down the street.”

Although he didn’t know who he was at the time, Corgan soon realized which of his family members the comedian bore a striking resemblance to.

“And she said, ‘Well, he’s this comedian.'” And I think I even kind of pulled up a picture on the phone – and I immediately noticed, “Man, he kind of looks like my dad,” recalls the singer. “Bill Burr is more like my father than Bill Burr is like me or I am like Bill Burr.”

“So I said to my mom, ‘Why are you asking me that?’ I thought the first thing she would say would be, ‘Oh, I thought you’d notice the resemblance.'”

But that was it not what his stepmother had in mind.

“She says, ‘I think it might be one of your father’s illegitimate children.’ “Bill Burr could be one of the children your father fathered during his time as a traveling musician,” Corgan continued. “This is a true story. I’m not making this up, it’s not a joke. This is a true story. To be honest, I’ve never said this anywhere before.”

Recounting his response to his stepmother’s shocking revelation, Corgan told 68-year-old Mandel he said, “Okay, something like that works. “I looked at Bill’s age and realized we were the same age.”

“And my dad once told me that I had a half-brother named Bill,” Corgan chimed in. “Who was basically born around the same time as me. He told me on my 18th birthday. This is all completely true. I swear to God. So I said, ‘Well, how many other possible illegitimate children does Dad have because he told me about this one Bill?’

He added: “And again I didn’t know Bill was a famous comedian, he could have been a guy working down the street at the Whack Factory in Chicago. “I had no idea who he was. None. Zero.”

It turns out that Bill wasn’t Corgan’s only possible half-sibling.

“And she says, ‘I think there are twelve in total,'” the musician confessed, before quipping, “Well, he was a traveling musician.”

And whether he ever discussed this possibility with Burr?

“I certainly know people who know Bill and I’ve never gone to them, but the only thing I did was look up Bill’s story and see that he grew up on the East Coast in Boston or something like that.” , Corgan shared, “And they said those were his parents and his life looked pretty normal. If I had seen he was adopted, maybe something, so I never bought it up.”

When Mandel asked, “Should we call Bill Burr and tell him the story?” Corgan replied, “I don’t want Bill Burr to make fun of him.”

He noted: “He’s very funny and I really don’t want the psychological arrows in my heart. All respect to Bill Burr. He’s obviously very talented and funny.”

“When I first saw Bill Burr’s face, I had no idea who he was,” Corgan reiterated. “He could have been the guy next door or the most famous comedian in the world, I had no idea. When I first saw his face I thought, ‘Oh my God, he looks like Dad.'”

“I had an immediate reaction and everyone in my inner circle who knows this story – and obviously people knew my father – and I said, ‘Doesn’t Bill Burr look like dad?’ or “What do you think?” and everyone has the same reaction of, ‘Oh my God, he really looks like your dad.'”

But at this point, Corgan doesn’t believe they’re related.

“At this point, I’m convinced that I don’t believe that Bill Burr and I are related because I’ve been sitting on the story for 10 years,” he added. I think it’s just one of those things. There are just people in the world who look the same.”

The Post has reached out to Burr’s representative for comment.