Smashing Pumpkins Singer Billy Corgan Embraces His Port Wine Birthmark After Trying to 'Hide' It His Entire Life

Mar. 15, 2025

Billy Corgan shows off his port wine birthmark on Sept. 2, 2024.Photo:Billy Corgan/Instagram

Billy Corgan/Instagram

Billy Corganis embracing being comfortable in his skin.

The Smashing Pumpkins frontman, 57, showed off his port wine birthmark in anInstagram poston Monday, Sept. 2, encouraging his social media followers to “find peace with who you are.”

“I’m a fan of body positivity movements because at the end of the day it is about celebrating what makes us ‘us,' " the two-time Grammy winner wrote.

Corgan’s post began with a photo of him wearing a purple sweater with its sleeves rolled up to show off the birthmark, which covers parts of his hand, wrist and arm. He also included a photo of modelCarlotta Bertottias an example of someone “with a birthmark who has embraced her ‘difference’ with grace.”

According to theCleveland Clinic, port wine stains result from abnormally formed capillaries — tiny blood vessels under your skin — dilating and becoming “more open or stretched out than normal.”

While they are usually harmless, the medical center states that the birthmarks usually get darker and thicker over time and “may become raised rather than flat and smooth.”

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

Billy Corgan poses for photo outside a concert venue.Billy Corgan/Instagram

“My point being that my whole life I’ve endeavoured to hide my ‘port wine’ birthmarks because as you can imagine I was teased unmercifully about them as a child,” he wrote.

“So much so that people who have known me for a decade are shocked when they finally ‘see it.’ And even now strangers will stop me on the street not because they recognize me but because they think something is wrong with me that requires medical attention,” Corgan continued.

Billy Corgan poses while traveling.Billy Corgan/Instagram

“Whoever you are, I hope you find peace with who you are because: I would like to know that person and no one else,” his message read.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

source: people.com