Marilyn Manson

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Marilyn Manson
Manson performing in 2017
Background information
Birth name	Brian Hugh Warner
Born	(1969-01-05) January 5, 1969 (age 55) Canton, Ohio, U.S.
Genres	Industrial metal industrial rock alternative metal hard rock gothic rock shock rock
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter actor painter writer
Years active	1989–present
Member of	Marilyn Manson
Spouse(s)	Dita Von Teese ​ ​ (m. 2005; div. 2007)​ Lindsay Usich ​ (m. 2020)​
Website	marilynmanson.com
Signature

Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band that shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since its formation in 1989. Known for his controversial stage personality, his stage name (like the other founding members of the band) was formed by combining the names of two opposing American cultural icons: actress Marilyn Monroe and cult leader Charles Manson.

His music released in the 1990s, including the albums Portrait of an American Family (1994), Antichrist Superstar (1996) and Mechanical Animals (1998), earned him a reputation in mainstream media as a controversial figure and negative influence on young people.^[1][2] In the U.S. alone, three of the band's albums have been awarded platinum status and three more went gold, and the band has had eight releases debut in the top 10, including two No. 1 albums. Manson has been ranked at No. 44 on the list of the "Top 100 Heavy Metal Vocalists" by Hit Parader and, along with his band, has been nominated for four Grammy Awards – Manson himself earned an additional Grammy nomination for his work on Kanye West's Donda (2021). Manson made his film debut as an actor in David Lynch's Lost Highway (1997), and has since appeared in a variety of minor roles and cameos. In 2002, his first art show, The Golden Age of Grotesque, was held at the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions center.

Manson is widely considered one of the most controversial figures in heavy metal music, and has been involved in numerous controversies throughout his career. His lyrics were criticized by American politicians and were examined in congressional hearings. Several U.S. states enacted legislation specifically banning the group from performing in state-operated venues. In 1999, news media falsely blamed Manson for influencing the perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre. His work has been cited in several other violent events; his paintings and films appeared as evidence in a murder trial, and he has been accused of inspiring several other murders and school shootings. In 2021, multiple women, including his former partner Evan Rachel Wood, accused Manson of psychologically and sexually abusing them, allegations he denied.^[3]

Early life[edit]

Brian Hugh Warner was born in Canton, Ohio, on January 5, 1969,^[4] the son of Barbara J. Wyer (died 2014)^[5] and Hugh Angus Warner (died 2017).^[6][7] He is of English, German, Irish, and Polish descent,^[8][9] and has also claimed that his mother's family (who hailed from the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia) had Sioux heritage.^[10]

As a child, he attended his mother's Episcopal church, though his father was a Roman Catholic.^[11][12] He attended Heritage Christian School from first to tenth grade. In that school, his instructors tried to show children what music they were not supposed to listen to; he thus fell in love with what he "wasn't supposed to".^{[citation needed]} He later transferred to GlenOak High School and graduated in 1987.^{[citation needed]}

After relocating with his parents, he enrolled at Broward Community College in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1990. He was working toward a degree in journalism, gaining experience in the field by writing articles for the music magazine 25th Parallel.^[13] He also interviewed musicians and soon met several of the musicians to whom his own work was later compared, including Groovie Mann from My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. The latter became his mentor and produced his debut album.^[14]

Career[edit]

Music[edit]

The band was formed in 1989 by Warner and guitarist Scott Putesky,^[15][16] with Warner writing lyrics and Putesky composing the majority of music.^[17] Warner adopted the stage name Marilyn Manson and, alongside a revolving lineup of musicians, recorded the band's first demo tape as Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids in 1990.^[18][19] The group quickly developed a loyal fanbase within the South Florida punk and hardcore music scene, primarily as a result of their intentionally shocking concerts; band members often performed in women's clothing or bizarre costumes, and live shows routinely featured amateur pyrotechnics, naked women nailed to crucifixes, children locked in cages,^[20][21] as well as experiments in reverse psychology and butchered animals remains.^{[N 1]} Within six months of forming, they were playing sold-out shows in 300-capacity nightclubs throughout Florida.^[23] They signed a record deal with Sony Music in early 1991, although this deal was rescinded before any material was recorded for the label. The band instead used the proceeds of this deal to fund the recording of subsequent demo tapes, which were released independently.^[24]

The name of the group was shortened to Marilyn Manson in 1992, and they continued to perform and release cassettes until the summer of 1993,^[20] when Reznor signed the act to his vanity label Nothing Records.^[25] Their debut studio album, Portrait of an American Family, was released in July 1994.^[26] Manson later criticized Nothing Records and its parent label Interscope for a perceived lack of promotion.^{[N 2]} While recording b-sides and remixes for the album's proposed third single, "Dope Hat", the band decided to issue the resultant material as a standalone release titled Smells Like Children.^[28] The record included their cover version of the Eurythmics's "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)", which established the band as a mainstream act.^[25][29] The song's music video was placed on heavy rotation on MTV,^[30] and earned the band their first nomination for Best Rock Video at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards.^[31] Their second studio album, 1996's Antichrist Superstar, sparked a fierce backlash among Christian fundamentalists.^[32] The album was an immediate commercial success, debuting at number three on the Billboard 200 and selling almost 2 million copies in the United States alone,^[33][34] and 7 million copies worldwide.^[35][36] Lead single "The Beautiful People" received three nominations at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards,^[37] where the band also performed.^[38]

For 1998's Mechanical Animals, Manson said he took inspiration from 1970s glam rock, and adopted a wardrobe and hairstyle similar to David Bowie.^[39] He said he did this to avoid being portrayed as a "bogeyman", a role which had been ascribed to him by mainstream media following the band's commercial breakthrough.^[32] Interscope's promotion of the album was massive,^[40] with the label erecting enormous billboards of Manson as an androgynous extraterrestrial in Times Square and the Sunset Strip.^[39] Lead single "The Dope Show" was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards.^[41] The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200,^[42] but was the lowest-selling number-one album of 1998 in the United States,^[43] with sales of 1.4 million copies in the country as of 2017.^[44] The album was not well received by longtime fans, who complained about its radio-friendly sound and accused the vocalist of "selling out",^[45] and Interscope were reportedly disappointed with its commercial performance.^{[N 3]}

Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) was a return to the band's industrial metal roots after the glam-influenced Mechanical Animals,^[47] and was the vocalist's response to media coverage blaming him for influencing the perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre. The album was a critical success, with numerous publications praising it as the band's finest work.^[48] Despite being certified gold in the United States for shipments in excess of half a million units,^[49] mainstream media openly questioned the band's commercial appeal, noting the dominance of nu metal and controversial hip hop artists such as Eminem.^[50][51] A cover of "Tainted Love" was an international hit in 2002, peaking at number one in several territories.^[52]

The Golden Age of Grotesque was released the following year, an album primarily inspired by the swing and burlesque movements of 1920s Berlin.^[53] In an extended metaphor found throughout the record, Manson compared his own often-criticized work to the Entartete Kunst banned by the Nazi regime.^[54] Like Mechanical Animals in 1998, The Golden Age of Grotesque debuted at number one on the Billboard 200,^[33] but was the lowest-selling studio album to debut at number one that year, selling 527,000 copies in the United States as of 2008.^[43] The album was more successful in Europe, where it sold over 400,000 on its first week of release to debut at number one on Billboard's European Top 100 Albums.^[55] Manson began his collaboration with French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier during this period, who designed much of the elaborate attire worn by the band on the supporting "Grotesk Burlesk Tour".^[56] The greatest hits compilation Lest We Forget: The Best Of was released in 2004.^[57]

After a three-year hiatus, in which the vocalist pursued other interests,^[59] the band returned with 2007's Eat Me, Drink Me. The album's lyrical content largely related to the dissolution of Manson's marriage to Dita Von Teese and his affair with 19-year-old actress Evan Rachel Wood.^[60] Seventh studio album The High End of Low was released in 2009, and was their final album issued by Interscope. While promoting the record, Manson made a series of disparaging comments about the label and its artistic censorship, as well as its president Jimmy Iovine.^[61] Manson signed a lucrative recording contract with British independent record label Cooking Vinyl in 2011, with the band and label sharing profits equally after the label recouped costs associated with marketing, promotion and distribution.^[62] The first album released under the deal was 2012's Born Villain.^[63] Lead single "No Reflection" earned the band their fourth Grammy nomination.^[41] Subsequent albums were released in the United States by Loma Vista Recordings, beginning with 2015's The Pale Emperor, which was widely seen as a return to form^[64][65] and was a commercial success upon release.^[66][67]

Heaven Upside Down followed in 2017,^[68] with its single "Kill4Me" becoming the band's highest-peaking single ever on Billboard's Mainstream Rock.^[69] While touring in support of the record, Manson was injured by two large falling stage props as he performed on stage at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, breaking his fibula in two places, requiring a plate and ten screws to be inserted in the bone, as well as another screw in his ankle, which he had sprained during a show in Pittsburgh.^[70][71] "God's Gonna Cut You Down" was released as a non-album single in 2019,^[72][73] and is the band's highest-peaking single on Billboard's Hot Rock Songs and Rock Digital Songs.^[74][75] Their most recent studio album, 2020's We Are Chaos, was the band's tenth top ten release on the Billboard 200.^[76]

According to Nielsen SoundScan, the band sold 8.7 million albums alone in the United States as of 2011.^[62] Three of their albums received platinum awards from the Recording Industry Association of America, and a further three received gold certifications.^[77] Ten of their releases debuted in the top ten of the Billboard 200, including two number-one albums.^[76] In the United Kingdom, the band are certified for sales of almost 1.75 million units.^[78] Marilyn Manson has sold over 50 million records worldwide.^{[79][80][81][82]}

Musical collaborations[edit]

In addition to his work with the band, Manson has collaborated extensively with other musicians.^[83] Cello rock act Rasputina opened for the band throughout the "Dead to the World Tour", the controversial tour supporting Antichrist Superstar.^[84] Lead vocalist Melora Creager performed cello and backing vocals for the band, most notably for renditions of "Apple of Sodom", a live version of which appeared as a b-side on Manson's 1998 single "The Dope Show".^[85] Manson also created three remixes of the song "Transylvanian Concubine", two of which appeared on their 1997 EP Transylvanian Regurgitations.^[86] Manson befriended The Smashing Pumpkins vocalist Billy Corgan in 1997,^[87] and performed renditions of "Eye" and "The Beautiful People" alongside that band at the 1997 edition of Bridge School Benefit concert.^[88] Manson frequently consulted Corgan during the early stages of recording Mechanical Animals. Referring to its inclusion of glam rock influences, Corgan advised Manson that "This is definitely the right direction" but to "go all the way with it. Don't just hint at it".^[89] In 2015, Marilyn Manson and the Smashing Pumpkins embarked on a co-headlining tour titled "The End Times Tour".^[90]

To promote Mechanical Animals in 1998, the band embarked on their first co-headlining concert tour: the "Beautiful Monsters Tour" with Hole.^[91] The tour was problematic,^[92] with Manson and Hole vocalist Courtney Love frequently insulting one another both on-stage and during interviews.^[93] Private disputes also arose over finances, as Hole were unwittingly financing most of Manson's production costs, which were disproportionately high relative to Hole's.^[94] The tour was to consist of thirty-seven dates,^[91] although Hole left after nine.^[93] When Hole departed from the tour, it was renamed the "Rock Is Dead Tour", with Jack Off Jill announced as one of the support acts.^[95] Manson had produced many of Jack Off Jill's demo recordings in the early 90s, and later wrote the liner notes to their 2006 compilation Humid Teenage Mediocrity 1992–1996.^[96][97]

Manson launched his own vanity label in 2000, Posthuman Records.^[98] The label released two albums – the 2000 soundtrack to Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 and Godhead's 2001 album 2000 Years of Human Error – before being dissolved in 2003.^[99] The latter album sold over 100,000 copies in the United States,^[100] and featured him performing vocals on the track "Break You Down".^[101] He performed vocals on "Redeemer", a song written by Korn vocalist Jonathan Davis that featured on the 2002 album Queen of the Damned: Music from the Motion Picture.^[102] Davis had been prevented from singing the song due to contractual issues with his record label.^[103] Manson also contributed a remix of the Linkin Park song "By Myself" to that band's remix album Reanimation,^[104] and collaborated with Marco Beltrami to create the score for the 2002 film Resident Evil.^[105]

He performed vocals on the Chew Fu GhettoHouse Fix remix of Lady Gaga's "LoveGame", which was featured as a b-side on the song's single in 2008.^[106] He was a featured vocalist on "Can't Haunt Me",^[107] a track recorded in 2011 for Skylar Grey's unreleased album Invinsible.^[108] He appeared on "Bad Girl", a song from Avril Lavigne's 2013 self-titled album,^[83] and featured on the song "Hypothetical" from Emigrate's 2014 album Silent So Long.^[109] New Orleans brass ensemble the Soul Rebels performed "The Beautiful People" alongside Manson at the 2015 edition of the Japanese Summer Sonic Festival.^[110] Manson recorded vocals on a cover of Bowie's "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" for country musician Shooter Jennings's 2016 album Countach (For Giorgio).^[111][112] The two were introduced in 2013 by Manson's then-bassist Twiggy Ramirez,^[113] and the pair first collaborated that same year on a song for the soundtrack to television series Sons of Anarchy.^[114] Their version of the song, "Join the Human Gang", remains unreleased, but the track was eventually rewritten and released by The White Buffalo as "Come Join the Murder".^{CategoriesMusic}