Porno for Pyros + Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan Cover Led Zeppelin’s ‘When the Levee Breaks’
Porno for Pyros have been back in action ever since their reunion at the Welcome to Rockville festival back in May. Over this past weekend at Chicago's Lollapalooza, the band was joined by Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan for a live cover of Led Zeppelin's rendition of "When the Levee Breaks."
The Pumpkins weren't part of the Lollapalooza lineup this year, but Corgan, a Chicago native, was welcomed to the stage by Perry Farrell during Porno for Pyros' set yesterday (July 31).
Porno for Pyros were a late addition to the bill, replacing Jane's Addiction, which was also the case with Welcome to Rockville. Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro has been struggling with long haul COVID, so Farrell reunited his other group to fill in for the performances they'd have to miss.
Prior to playing the song, Farrell introduced the Smashing Pumpkins vocalist, who was on guitar, to the audience, and said, "We want to do a proper Chicago song together, is that cool?"
Check out fan-filmed footage of the performance below.
Though the song was made famous by Led Zeppelin — especially due to John Bonham's thunderous, chugging drum intro — "When the Levee Breaks" was originally written by blues artists Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy in 1929. Zeppelin later released their own version of the track on their 1971 album Led Zeppelin IV.
Corgan and Farrell will reunite again later this year when Smashing Pumpkins and Jane's Addiction go on tour with Poppy. The run kicks off Oct. 2 in Dallas, Texas, and continues through mid-November. Get tickets with this link.