Billy Corgan says he ‘lost his greatest opponent’ when Kurt Cobain died

Smashing Pumpkins singer Billy Corgan revealed Monday that the death of Kurt Cobain in 1994 left him extremely upset because he felt like he had “lost his greatest opponent.”

“When Kurt died, I cried because I lost my greatest opponent,” recalled Corgan, 56, during an Apple Music interview. “I want to beat the best. I don’t want to win the championship because it’s just me and a bunch of jabronis, to use a wrestling term.”

“It’s like Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest sports competitor I’ll ever see in my lifetime,” he added.

The Post reached out to Corgan for comment.

The singer revealed in the interview that even though both Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana often went toe-to-toe with each other during the 1990s, he still respected the late Nirvana frontman.

“I will go down always as saying, Kurt was the most talented guy of our generation,” he said. “Kurt had so much talent. It’s like frightening. It was like a John Lennon level of talent, where you’re like, ‘How can you have all this talent?’ Or Prince, right?”

“But Kurt’s not here, sadly,” continued Corgan. “So I looked around, I was like, ‘All right, well, I could beat the rest of them for sure.’”

In 1991, the Pumpkins released their debut album “Gish” only to be overshadowed by Cobain and Nirvana’s “Nevermind” record a few months later.

This setback didn’t stop Corgan.

“I want the Pumpkins standing on the top of the heap of our generation,” he told Apple. “If that means I got to write 800 songs to do it, I’ll do it. I ain’t shy about that.”

The frontman’s wish came true in 1993 when the group struck gold with their hit “Siamese Dream” and dethroned Nirvana from the No. 1 slot on the Billboard charts.

Nirvana’s return to prominence was cut short when the 27-year-old Cobain killed himself a year later.

In 1995, The Smashing Pumpkins achieved their dream of being the top band after the group released their double album “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.”

Since Cobain’s death, Corgan has been a staunch supporter of the late musician and called himself and the Nirvana frontman the best writers of their generation.

Corgan also argued that if Cobain was still alive, there would be a lot less “crap music.”

“I like to think a lot of the crap music that followed wouldn’t have existed if he had been around to criticize it,” he told NME. “Because he had the moral standing to slay generations with a strike of the pen.”

The “1979” singer has also slammed those who claimed the late Cobain was a slacker.

“Kurt Cobain as a lyricist, as a songwriter, as a visionary was a f – – king assassin,” championed Corgan. “He was great at what he did and it’s a shame he didn’t do more of it.”

Several online users were not happy with the frontman’s remarks.

“What a f – – king narcissus! You were never competing with Kurt Cobain because you were never in his league, Billy Corgan,” spat one user.

“Even Layne Staley, if not Eddie. But Billy Corgan? Competing with THEE Kurt Cobain,” slammed a second person “Drag delusion strikes again.”

“Clever,” chided a third user. “But someone should tell Billy Corgan that he was never competition for Kurt Cobain.”

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