Billy Corgan is the gift that keeps on giving. Those fans who find the prospect of waiting till next year for not one but two new Smashing Pumpkins albums can sate their appetites for all things Corgan with a new TV show. Because, Variety has reported, the AMC network is working on something described as "Untitled Billy Corgan Wrestling Project", in which "Smashing Pumpkins lead singer Billy Corgan pulls back the curtains on the pro-wrestling world as he takes over creative direction for the independent wrestling company Resistance Pro". Reality TV, Billy Corgan and professional wrestling in one package? What's not to like? But, equally, we've come to expect the unexpected from Corgan, as his previous activities show …
• In September 2009, Corgan launched an inter-faith website called Everything From Here to There. “This is not a place of judgment, nor a place of making proof,” Corgan wrote. “We begin with the idea that there is a God. We begin with the undying belief that there is a unifying intelligence that manifests itself in Everything. Even if you don’t believe in God, exploring fully the idea of a God or Gods should pose no threat to you. The idea of a higher collective intelligence or consistent organising principle should be worth contemplating no matter what you believe in (or don’t believe in).” Sadly, the site is no more, though we choose to believe that is because it has ascended to a higher plane.
• A month later, on Everything From Here to There, he outlined his belief that the swine flu virus H1N1 was not natural. "I have read reports from people who say (as doctors) that there is evidence to suggest this virus was created by man." He also said he would not take any vaccine for the virus, because he did not trust its maker. "If the virus comes to take me Home, that is between me and the Lord." However, he conceded, "I am not a doctor, and I am in no way suggesting that you should follow any medical advice from me."
• In September 2012, he opened his own tea shop in Highland Park, the affluent North Chicago suburb where he has lived for more than a decade. “People in Highland Park have been looking for things to do,” he explained of Madame ZuZu's. “We’re trying to build a culture where they can come here and not have to go to the city. We had a local lady talk about flower arranging and someone else talk about kabbalah. Everyone is welcome here, whether they’re in their 70s or their 20s.”
• Lucky tea-sippers at Madame ZuZu's on 28 February got a treat, when Corgan performed an eight-hour improvisational modular synth jam inspired by Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha over a backing track of the text being read by Adrian Praetzellis. After the success of this session he has announced Sunday with Rumi which will consist of “four sonic impressions” of poems by the 13th-century Sufi mystic.
• Just this February he starred in this incredible advert for a furniture company to promote his wrestling project. And people say he has no sense of humour.
• Back in the 90s, in the wake of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Corgan began work on an instrumental track – based on the work of Dr Dre – for basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal to rap over on his album You Can't Stop the Reign. Sadly, that song never came to fruition, but the track would turn up as the song Eye on the soundtrack to David Lynch's Lost Highway.
