In an effort to embrace and be part of body positivity movements, the Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan has opened up about the “port wine” birthmarks he’s had since he was a child.
Corgan has rarely spoken publicly about his birthmarks but was inspired to do so by the model and influencer Carlotta Bertotti, who has a birthmark on her face. “I’m a fan of body positivity movements because at the end of the day it is about celebrating what makes us ‘us,’” Corgan wrote on Instagram. “So as you see, here is a beautiful young woman (@carlotta_bertotti ) with a birthmark who has embraced her ‘difference’ with grace.”
Corgan went on to admit, “My whole life I’ve endeavored to hide my ‘port wine’ birthmarks because as you can imagine, I was teased unmercifully about them as a child. So much so that people who have known me for a decade are shocked when they finally ‘see it.’”
The Smashing Pumpkins frontman said the birthmark even causes people to stop him on the street, not because they recognize him, but because they’re worried he might have an issue that requires immediate medical attention.
“So positive message for the day,” Corgan concluded. “Whoever you are, I hope you find peace with who you are because: I would like to know that person and no one else.”
“Port wine stains” — also known as “nevus flammeus” — are permanent birthmarks that appear on newborns and may “get darker and raised or bumpy over time” (per the Cleveland Clinic). They come from “abnormally formed capillaries (tiny blood vessels under your skin)” that have stretched out more than usual, but scientists still aren’t sure what causes them to dilate.
Corgan perhaps most prominently displayed his port wine birthmark on the cover of his 2005 solo debut, TheFutureEmbrace, which features a photo of him framing his face with his hands. Still, there are very few interviews where he’s spoken about the birthmark. The Smashing Pumpkins fansite, Starla.org, has an archived interview Corgan gave in 1995 where he discusses the birthmark while speaking about his childhood and feeling like a “freak.”
“I have a really big birthmark on my left hand, which as an adult is obviously not that important, but as a child you feel like you have a completely deformed arm,” he said. “It didn’t limit my functions at all, but I was treated almost like how somebody would treat a cripple. So, that was kind of weird and insidious. I have a brother who has a kind of Down’s syndrome, so I have great sympathy for what people go through with bigger problems, but for me it was weird, because I felt normal — and for all intents and purposes I was — but yet, I was kind of an outcast because of this deformity. Then again, I’ve always just been weird, there’s no getting around that.”
Corgan and the Pumpkins released their 13th studio album, Aghori Mhori Mei, last month. The band is in the middle of a lengthy North American tour, primarily providing support for Green Day on their stadium run with dates scheduled through the end of September.