EXCLUSIVE

Emo king Conor Oberst from the band Bright Eyes insists he NEVER raped a 16-year-old girl back in 2003 -- despite the girl's public claims -- and now he's suing her for more than a million bucks.

Conor just filed a defamation lawsuit against Joanie Faircloth, who claimed the rock star raped her ten years ago after one of his North Carolina shows.

Faircloth made the allegations in December in the comments section of the website xojane.com -- claiming Conor came on to her backstage after the 2003 concert and later forced himself on her ... after she made it clear to him that she was a virgin and wanted to stay that way.

Joanie wrote, "Conor took a lot from me including my virginity, my dignity, and self-esteem."

But Conor insists the encounter is made up -- in fact, Conor says he never even met her.

Conor claims Joanie's just an embittered superfan, who gushed about him and Bright Eyes as recently as January 2013 -- writing about how the last time she saw Conor in concert is her best memory ever. She even listed "Bright Eyes" as her favorite band on Facebook.