“SMASHING Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan has opened up about his relationship with Veronicas singer Jessica Origliasso.
Calling her “my Aussie girlfriend” and hailing her “homeless glam look” the pair met when he was asked to write a song with the Australian hitmakers.
“That was the beginning of the whirlwind,” Corgan told music writer Cameron Adams yesterday.
They’ve since bonded over Summer Heights High – “In an hour I was addicted” – and Corgan has written songs for the Veronicas’ next album.
The rock icon, 43, said he and Origliasso, 25, found each other at the right time.
“I was in a good place and that’s why I ended up in a good relationship. Both of us have been in stormy relationships,” he said.
“You’ve got to be ready to be in a great relationship. Being with someone as talented and beautiful as Jess is, you gotta be real.
“She’s brought a lot of sunshine into my life. But I was ready to receive it. I was open. If she’d met me a few years ago I don’t know if I would have understood her.
“She’s such a unique person, there’s not a lot of people I’ve ever met who are like her. You look at her, she kinda works the homeless glam look, but inside she’s a sweetie pie.”
Corgan met Origliasso’s Brisbane-based parents on a trip to Australia earlier this year and his girlfriend is tipped to join the Pumpkins on their tour Down Under next month.
The singer said discussion of their age difference or previous relationships washed off them. I’m proud to have a woman like Jess on my arm. She’s somebody I really look up to.’”