Mainstream pop often operates under an unspoken demand for digital precision, which makes Billy Corgan's appreciation for Olivia Rodrigo particularly telling. Speaking on a recent episode of the Popcast podcast, the Smashing Pumpkins frontman explained why he finds Rodrigo compelling. For Corgan, her strength does not lie in meeting polished production standards, but in her conscious decision to ignore them.
The conversation started when Corgan was asked about his habit of mentoring and praising younger artists, having previously supported musicians such as Yungblud and Sombr. When the hosts highlighted stylistic echoes between Rodrigo's work and classic Pumpkins singles like 1979 and Disarm, Corgan praised her approach. He described her as an unusually smart and savvy songwriter who understands that creative freedom means assembling whatever influences you like, rather than trimming away the edges to fit a tidy mold.
Corgan focused heavily on her willingness to let rough textures remain on the finished record. He noted that Rodrigo has no issue leaving a vocal slightly off-pitch on purpose or building around an irregular structure. In his view, there is no reason pop performers should not enjoy the exact same room for human imperfection that rock acts have always taken for granted.
The mutual respect between the two musicians had already spilled out into a live setting. In August, Corgan invited Rodrigo to perform with the Smashing Pumpkins during their headline set at Lollapalooza. The show marked the band's first time headlining the festival since its days as a traveling tour back in 1994. Together, they sang Thirty-Three, the acoustic cut from the Pumpkins' 1995 double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.
Corgan is hardly the only veteran songwriter to stand behind Rodrigo. Jack White has called her very cool and genuine, while Mick Jagger singled out her talent for breaking past standard songwriting formulas. The Cure's Robert Smith went even further after coming across her work through Drivers License. Smith went on to collaborate with Rodrigo on her track What's Wrong With Me, later walking out to join her set at Glastonbury 2025.
These high-profile alliances come as Rodrigo continues to tour and promote her third album, You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love. Her recent output shows a steady appetite for unexpected collaborators. Just this month, she shared a new remix of her track Expectations featuring Chappell Roan, along with a visual that featured Talking Heads founder David Byrne alongside producer Dan Nigro.
Elsewhere in the Popcast interview, Corgan addressed other topics across his personal life and career, including his ongoing friendship with Marilyn Manson. Corgan stated that he did not believe the allegations of sexual misconduct made against Manson, which Manson denies, adding that he has no interest in outsiders telling him who his friends should be. Between interviews, Corgan has stayed active with his own material. He recently finished a tour across the UK and Europe performing Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness alongside a 60-piece orchestra, and used an episode of his own podcast, The Magnificent Others, to name Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker as the single most influential drummer of the last thirty years.
For Corgan, taking pop seriously does not mean cheering on sanitized production. His defense of Rodrigo rests on a straightforward preference for human instinct, treating slight vocal slips and unvarnished takes as proof that an actual person is still in control of the track.
