The Smashing Pumpkins star Billy Corgan: Singer no longer wants to hide birthmark

Billy Corgan (57) has addressed his followers with an inspiring post on his Instagram account. He is a big “fan of the body positivity movement,” he explained, sharing a photo that covers large parts of his hand, wrist and forearm. “At the end of the day, it’s about celebrating what makes us who we are,” emphasized the frontman of the legendary rock band The Smashing Pumpkins.

Corgan was ashamed of his birthmark for a long time

“My point is that I’ve tried my whole life to hide my ‘port wine stain’ because I was teased relentlessly for it as a child,” the musician explained. In fact, he is so good at camouflaging the skin abnormality on his left side that not even friends would recognize it. “Even now, strangers stop me on the street, not because they recognize me, but because they think there is something wrong with me that requires medical attention,” Corgan continued.

He said he was fed up with the questions about burns, the risk of infection and illness because of his birthmark. Birthmarks, also known as port wine stains, are harmless skin changes that occur from birth. They are caused by malformations of the blood vessels. “Whoever you are, I hope you find peace with who you are, because I want to know that person and no one else,” Corgan concluded his appeal with a “positive message for the day.”

Billy Corgan founded the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins in 1988. The group split up in 2000, but reunited seven years later. The Chicago band has sold over 30 million records in total. Corgan usually wears extra long sleeves at his concerts so that his birthmark is best hidden.