Porno For Pyros recruit Billy Corgan for a performance of Led Zeppelin’s When the Levee Breaks at Lollapalooza

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The Perry Farrell-led alt-rock outfit brought out the Smashing Pumpkins leader towards the climax of their July 31 set

[L-R] Billy Corgan and Perry Farrell
(Image credit: TheSteved111/YouTube)

The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan joined Porno For Pyros during their recent set at Lollapalooza for a performance of Led Zeppelin’s When the Levee Breaks.

Almost 10 tracks into Porno For Pyros’ Sunday (July 31) set at Chicago’s Grant Park – which saw them play the likes of Pets, Tahitian Moon and Cursed Female – frontman Perry Farrell called Corgan onto the stage to help them play the Led Zeppelin IV cut.

“We have a very dear friend, Billy Corgan, that we got together [with],” Farrell told the crowd in attendance. “Reunited this time out. We want to do a proper Chicago song for you together.”

Equipping himself with a red Gibson ES-335, Corgan kicks off proceedings by playing the track’s massive opening riff, backed up by the L.A. alt rockers. Check out the performance below.

When the Levee Breaks was originally written in 1929 and recorded by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie, and was later made famous by Led Zeppelin in 1971.

Lollapalooza wasn’t the first time The Smashing Pumpkins joined forces with Porno For Pyros this year; back in May, the two acts appeared on The Howard Stern Show to perform Jane Says, from Perry Farrell’s main band, Jane’s Addiction.

Another notable moment from this year’s Lollapalooza festival came when Metallica met and jammed with Stranger Things star Joseph Quinn.

The meet-up saw the actor – who plays guitar-toting protagonist Eddie Munson in the hit Netflix series – playing the opening riff of Master of Puppets with the legendary thrash metallers, leading drummer Lars Ulrich to declare: “Metallica is now a five-piece, guys.”

After the jam, the band gifted Quinn a signed B.C. Rich x Stranger Things Warlock electric guitar.

In other Billy Corgan news, the Smashing Pumpkins leader recently hosted a virtual benefit concert at his tea shop, Madame Zuzu's, to support those affected by the July 4 Highland Park mass shooting, during which he debuted a new Pumpkins track, Photograph.

Sam Roche
Sam Roche

Sam was Staff Writer at GuitarWorld.com from 2019 to 2023, and also created content for Total Guitar, Guitarist and Guitar Player. He has well over 15 years of guitar playing under his belt, as well as a degree in Music Technology (Mixing and Mastering). He's a metalhead through and through, but has a thorough appreciation for all genres of music. In his spare time, Sam creates point-of-view guitar lesson videos on YouTube under the name Sightline Guitar.