Billy Corgan discusses age gap in marriage

Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan has commented on the nearly 26-year age difference between him and his wife, Chloe Mendel. During an interview on The New York Times’ Popcast, the 59-year-old musician described the age gap as an “advantage” in their relationship.

Corgan suggested that women from his own generation often faced different societal challenges and personal struggles. He stated that while many women of his generation dealt with abuse and lacked support during the rise of feminism, Mendel, who is 34, benefited from a different era that allowed her to “balance properly.”

Corgan noted that he had encountered many “broken women” in the past, making it difficult to form stable connections, but characterized his relationship with Mendel as being able to avoid those specific generational complexities.