On Saturday, Billy Corgan announced that his father, musician William Corgan Sr., had passed away following a heart attack. As he said in his video, “The show goes on, that’s what my father believed in,” and so on Saturday evening the singer was joined by his partner Chloe Mendel and their two kids for their annual Christmas show at Corgan’s vegan tea shop, Madame Zuzu’s.
In his video tribute, Corgan reflected on his father’s bittersweet relationship with music. “My father had his own struggles with music and had a very complicated and oftentimes bitter relationship with the music business. He assumed that I would have the same,” he said. “It all started with him, watching him play in basements and at sound checks and empty stinking bars.”
After reflecting on the way his father had passed down his love of music, Corgan had a chance to do the same with his children later that night. At Madame Zuzu’s in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, he performed “Do You Hear What I Hear?” with his young daughter Philomena. Considering what Corgan had just gone through, it’s almost impossible to watch the video and not reflect on the unbroken chain connecting parents to children, grandchildren to great-grandchildren, and perhaps even empty stinking bars to packed vegan tea shops.
During the set, Corgan also unveiled two unreleased holiday originals: “Evergreen,” and “The Magi and the Shiny Bright.” Check out the Christmas set, as well as Corgan’s video tribute to his father, below.
Proceeds from the Zuzu’s set benefitted PAWS Chicago, a no-kill animal shelter. Earlier this month, he also supported PAWS with a fundraiser on Cameo. Alongside Foo Fighters and Lil Wayne, his Smashing Pumpkins will headline the 2022 Beale Street Music Festival. Tickets for Smashing Pumpkins shows are available here.
