Big Rig's ROCK Report 11.27 🦃

Is Billy Corgan Related to Bill Burr?

Billy Corgan and comedian Bill Burr may look alike, but is it possible they could be related? 

The Smashing Pumpkins founder appeared on the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast, where an image of Burr was accidentally on display instead of him.

Corgan said "it happens" and then went on to share that Burr actually may be one of his father's children.

“So, about 10 years ago, one of my brothers was having a birthday party and my stepmother was there who was obviously married to my father," Corgan recalled. "And my stepmother said to me, ‘Do you know who Bill Burr is?’ Now at that point, I had never heard of Bill Burr, I didn’t know who he was. I didn’t know he was a comedian or anything. He could have been the guy down the street.”

He continued: “And she said, ‘Well, he’s this comedian’.’ And I think I even somehow called up a picture on the phone — and I kind of noticed right away, ‘Gee, he kind of looks like my father.'"

“She goes, ‘I think it might be one of your father’s illegitimate children. Bill Burr might be one of the children that your father sired in his days of being a traveling musician,'” Corgan continued before mentioning his stepmother said there were a total of 12 illegitimate siblings around. 

Even still, does Corgan himself feel they are related?

“It’s my belief at this point, because I’ve sat on the story for 10 years,” he noted, “that I don’t think Bill Burr and I are related. I think it’s just one of those things. There are just people in the world that look alike.”

Mike Shinoda Didn't Want Linkin Park to Sound Like a Cover Band

Even Mike Shinoda had concerns when reuniting Linkin Park.

In a recent radio interview, Shinoda shared why he wanted Emily Armstrong to take over vocals instead of someone who sounds like late singer Chester Bennington.

“We just want Emily to be Emily,” he shared. “The songs are the songs. Emily is Emily… There was a time early on, like 2020-ish, 2019, whatever — like, I remembered I was watching videos… I think a video of a cover band, a Linkin Park cover band, showed up in my feed. Fans were loving it. They were all like, ‘Oh my God, this person’s so good. They sound so much like Chester.’”

“So, when I was watching this YouTube video, or Instagram video, of this cover band, I was like, ‘That’s really cool, but it’s also creepy that it sounds so much like Chester,’" he continued. "I don’t like it, it weirds me out. It made me immediately know that it wasn’t the move for us. I don’t like it. I like it for [the cover bands], I just don’t like it for us… These bands do a great job, but I wouldn’t put that in our band.”

U2: Pride (In the Name of Sci-Fi)

The Edge has provided a little more insight into some of the music he and Bono have been composing with the help of Brian Eno, who has produced or contributed to eight U2 albums. “We’re at that great phase where we don’t have to over think it, we’re just making music and loving that process, and then we’ll figure out where things belong. Bono and I are working on some crazy kind of Sci-Fi Irish folk music, which is again, could end up becoming a part of the U2 album. We’re not sure yet, we’ll see. Part of our kind of process is to just go so wildly away from off-track and then sort of [go through] the process of bringing things back on track is kind of how you get sort of unique sounding music. We're excited about that."

U2's last studio album of new material was 2017's Songs of Experience.

Last Friday, they reissued their 2004 album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb in multiple formats. It includes a companion album, How to Re-Assemble an Atomic Bomb, which contains 10 songs recorded during the album sessions that were compiled for this reissue by The Edge.

How to Re-Assemble an Atomic Bomb will be released as a stand-alone LP this Friday, Record Store Day.

Record Store Day is Friday

The Black Friday edition of Record Store Day is on the way with quite a few interesting releases. The titles on the RSD Black Friday list are limited in number, as are most things created for special time periods or exclusive to certain retailers. That means a store may not get all copies they wanted or that a store may sell out of a release before you are able to purchase it. So, time to get in line if there’s a release you really want to pick up.

See the entire list of releases at recordstoreday.com. Some of the titles on the Black Friday list:

· The Allman Brothers Band – Manley Field House, Syracuse NY April 7, 1972 (live)

· The Byrds / Buffalo Springfield: Live at the Monterey International Pop Festival

· Dickey Betts & Great Southern - Southern Jam New York 1978

· Phil Collins - Live From The Board... The Official Bootleg

· The Doors - Live in Detroit

· Grateful Dead - Veterans Memorial Coliseum, New Haven, CT 5/5/77

· Jimi Hendrix - Songs For Groovy Children: The Fillmore East Concerts

· Pearl Jam - "Waiting for Stevie"/"Wreckage" - 12-inch single. These live cuts were recorded back in May.

· Stevie Nicks - "The Lighthouse" 7”

· The Rolling Stones - Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!

· Todd Rundgren - Todd Rundgren's Utopia

· Stone Temple Pilots - Purple Rarities - LP. This has selections from the Super Deluxe Edition of Purple released five years ago.

· U2 - How to Re-Assemble An Atomic Bomb

· Van Halen - Live in Dallas 1991

· Yes - Fragile Outtakes

Rod Stewart Tapped For "Legends" Spot At Glastonbury 2025

Rod Stewart will perform in “Glastonbury Festival’s” legends slot next year. The move sees him return to the festival 23 years after his last appearance there! The rock icon shared his excitement for the gig with a post to social media. “After all these years, I’m proud and ready and more than able to take the stage again…I’ll see you there!,” he shared. Stewart is the first artist confirmed for the 2025 festival. Tickets for the festival are…already sold out. That said, a limited selection of tickets will go up for sale in January as well.

R.E.M., RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS: Play for Patti

Michael Stipe of R.E.M. and Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers will pay tribiute to fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Patti Smith on March 26th at New York's Carnegie Hall. Stipe will be one of the many singers at The Music of Patti Smith, while Flea will be in the house band, along with Rolling Stones drummer Steve Jordan and Tony Shanahan, who has been in Smith's band for decades. Other singers announced so far include Matt Berninger

of The National, Courtney Barnett, Sharon Van Etten, Alison Mosshart of The Kills, Ben Harper, Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Angel Olsen. Proceeds from the show will raise money for music education for underserved youth.

Linkin Park "From Zero" Concert Film To Hit Theaters Next Year

A Linkin Park concert film is coming to theaters next year. The band announced the forthcoming "From Zero" concert film during their recent album launch shows in Brazil. During the show, they played several songs off the new album and some of their biggest hits and told the crowd it was being filmed. A release date for the concert film has yet to be announced.

Marilyn Manson Drops Defamation Suit Against Evan Rachel Wood

Marilyn Manson is dropping his defamation lawsuit against his ex-fiance Evan Rachel Wood. Lawyers for both the rock star and the actress confirmed the agreement on Tuesday after a two-year legal battle. As part of the agreement, Manson has agreed to pay Wood's legal fees. Manson sued Wood in 2022, accusing her and her partner of spreading a "malicious falsehood" t

women in recent years have accused Manson of sexual abuse. Several of those lawsuits have been either settled or dismissed.

IN OTHER NEWS

Alice Cooper is swapping one female blonde guitarist for another. Orianthi, who Nita Strauss replaced in his band in 2014, will fill in for Nita between January 31st in Augusta, Georgia and the Rock Legends Cruise from February 13th to the 17th out of Miami.

Neil Finn and his son Elroy Finn of Crowded House guest on Spring Board: The Early Unrecorded Songs, a posthumous album by Martin Phillips of the New Zealand band The Chills. The album is out on February 28th.

R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe duets with Courtney Love on her next solo album. No word on when it will be out.