“They were dead serious”: Fans Can’t Tell if the Billy Corgan-Bill Burr Half-Brother Moment From a Viral Podcast Is Real
- Fans cannot understand whether to believe Billy Corgan's story or not.
- Billy Corgan and Bill Burr never confirmed or denied if they are half-brothers.
- Corgan and Burr has a 'family reunion' thanks to Howie Mandel
Guitarist-singer-songwriter and professional wrestling promoter Billy Corgan is known for being the only constant member of the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. The artist has also been credited with helping in popularizing the alternative rock genre. Corgan co-founded Resistance Pro Wrestling in 2011.
In 2017, Corgan purchased the National Wrestling Alliance, including its name, rights, trademarks, and championship belts. He has revealed that he has struggled with anxiety, depression, panic attacks, self-harm, and more as a result of being abused as a child by his father and stepmother. Corgan’s stepmother thinks Billy Corgan has a stepbrother who is now a renowned comedian and an actor.
Billy Corgan hints Bill Burr and he can be half-brothers
During an appearance on Howie Mandel’s Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast in November, Billy Corgan recalled a story after he noticed that the host had, by mistake, put Bill Burr’s picture behind him. He goes on to reveal,
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. 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.
Corgan continued that his stepmother told him that he was a comedian, and after looking at the picture, he could see that Burr looked like his father. Corgan added that Bill Burr looks more like Corgan’s father than Bill Burr looks like the guitarist.
So the singer asked his stepmother why she was asking him about Bill Burr, to which she said,
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 as a traveling musician.’
Billy Corgan clarified that he was not joking. And now in January, Howie Mandel orchestrated a surprise reunion between the two on his podcast Howie Mandel Does Stuff, and Burr jokingly said to Corgan that he never thought that because he never told that story, he shouldn’t have either. Corgan chimed in to dismiss the idea that they are related by stating that the fact that Burr can’t sing disproves that they are related because he is not funny.
Mandel simply told the men that Burr should join The Smashing Pumpkins as a drummer. And Burr replied by saying that they’re both in their fifties.
Fans react to Billy Corgan-Bill Burr’s ‘half-brother’ claims
Even though Billy Corgan and Bill Burr have a resemblance, the two of them are not half brothers. However, fans cannot seem to understand because they are confused about the story that Corgan shared in November 2024.
One Reddit user commented, ‘They sure look like brothers sitting side by side.’ Another user mentioned,
Unless you’re socially awkward, it was so obvious to tell how annoyed, mad, and uncomfortable Bill was at the beginning. He’s a decent actor, but if you’re a supposed fan, you know what genuine anger from Bill looks like.
A third user online stated that all middle-aged bald men look like half-brothers. Fans were finally able to realize that it was a bit and not real.
Another Reddit user shared that the context of all this is the latest Howie Mandel podcast, which was uncomfortable at the start, but then Bill brought it back slowly by thrashing Howie. The user added,
I still kept thinking whether this was a bit, but it wasn’t. They were dead serious.
Throughout the entire episode, Burr and Corgan pretended to be bickering brothers, making the audience more confused. But the two of them never confirmed if they were half-brothers or not.
