Billy Corgan

I think you have something that's super rare, which is this earnest quality.

I believe what you're singing.

OK, you tell me, because you were in the room.

Oh yeah.

Oh yeah.

I heard them all, but that's a new one.

kevin cronin thank you so much i'm so honored to talk to you today i've literally been listening to you my almost my entire life so you couldn't help it you were from chicago in chicago we'll talk about that but um uh i want to start here uh

Born in Evanston, Illinois?

Is that accurate?

Mm-hmm.

So I was born in Chicago in the lakes.

So essentially, we were born about 20 miles apart.

And although we're a slightly different generation, we grew up in the same world, Catholic world of Chicago.

Yeah.

And...

Back then, Chicago was heavily Catholic, heavily working class.

It's changed a bit.

So I feel like there's an understanding there where maybe people outside of the Midwest maybe wouldn't understand what made your band, REO Speedwagon, important, what you guys were talking about important.

It certainly resonated with the world that I grew up in.

So, let's sort of start there, if you want to talk about sort of your upbringing and kind of... Because I found, and I don't know if you found this through the years, you know, American culture is so dominated by New York and Los Angeles, but they oftentimes overlook how valuable artists from other parts of the country are in contributing to the greater conversation of what we experience.