'I'm Christian': Billy Corgan says Jesus Christ is his Lord and Savior in epic new interview

On the latest episode of his podcast “The Magnificent Others,” Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan spoke about his faith in Christ and said that others in the music industry are afraid to talk about God.

Talking with Stryper singer Michael Sweet, Corgan spoke about his relationship with God and reflected on his decision to be open about his faith in the music industry. “I’m a Christian as well,” he said.

“At some point, I made my own personal decision that I was gonna be willing to talk about God in a way that I know most people in my generation do not talk about God in music,” he said.

“I even once said to Rolling Stone that God is the third rail of rock and roll,” he added. “If you talk about God, you might as well throw your career down the hole.”

Street also talked about being a Christian in the music industry, but suggested that he had a period of aversion to talking about God, especially when he was first getting started. That, he said, changed when a friend walked into the studio and declared himself a follower of Christ.

"I'm a Christian now. ... I know you guys have gone down that [other] path, and you're not now, but listen, if you give your band to God, He's going to do things that you never even dreamed of," Sweet recalled about his friend. He added that he followed that advice and made the band explicitly Christian.

"It kind of blew my mind," said Sweet, adding that he heeded the counsel and the band ultimately became explicitly Christian.

"As musicians, we're certainly aware of other people's opinions," said Corgan, "especially at that particular time, making that kind of decision and say[ing], 'OK, now we're going to sort of represent that.' Not, 'We're going to hide it in our lyrics and sort of just play along.' Like, 'We're going to come out and say this is who we are, this is what we believe in.'"

Near the end of the episode, Corgan explained why he keeps releasing so much music. He believes God gave him a talent and that using it is his responsibility, since he can never know which song might pull someone back from the edge. Sweet agreed.