From Justapedia - Reading time: 22 min
Marilyn Manson | |
|---|---|
Manson performing in 2024 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Brian Hugh Warner |
| Born | January 5, 1969 Canton, Ohio, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Years active | 1989–present |
| Member of | Marilyn Manson |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Website | marilynmanson |
Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician and the lead singer of the band Marilyn Manson, which he started in 1989. His stage name combines Marilyn Monroe’s first name with Charles Manson’s last name, a pattern the band followed using female sex symbols and male serial killers.
Known as a controversial figure in rock music, Manson has faced criticism from politicians and bans in some U.S. states for his lyrics. Manson ranks No. 44 on Hit Parader’s "Top 100 Heavy Metal Vocalists" list and has earned four Grammy nominations with his band, plus one for his contribution to Kanye West’s Donda (2021).
He debuted as an actor in David Lynch’s Lost Highway (1997) and has taken on small film roles since. His artwork debuted in 2002 at the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions center with the show The Golden Age of Grotesque.
Brian Hugh Warner, known as Marilyn Manson, was born on January 5, 1969, in Canton, Ohio, to Barbara J. Wyer (d. 2014) and Hugh Angus Warner (d. 2017).[1][2][3] He has English, German, Irish, and Polish ancestry, with possible Sioux heritage from his mother’s Appalachian roots.[4][5][6]
Raised in a mixed-faith household—his mother Episcopal, his father Catholic—Warner attended Heritage Christian School through tenth grade, where exposure to forbidden music sparked his interest.[7] He graduated from GlenOak High School in 1987 and later moved to Florida, enrolling at Broward Community College in 1990 to study journalism. There, he wrote for 25th Parallel, interviewing musicians like Groovie Mann and Trent Reznor, who later mentored him and produced his first album.[8]
Marilyn Manson formed in 1989 in Florida by Brian Warner (Marilyn Manson) and Scott Putesky, with Warner writing lyrics and Putesky composing most music.[9][10] Initially named Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids, they recorded their 1990 demo, gaining a following in South Florida’s punk scene through provocative shows featuring costumes, pyrotechnics, and shocking props.[11] After a brief Sony Music deal in 1991 fell through, they released independent demos, shortening their name to Marilyn Manson by 1992.[12]
Trent Reznor signed them to Nothing Records in 1993, releasing their debut, Portrait of an American Family (1994).[13] Their 1995 EP Smells Like Children featured a hit cover of "Sweet Dreams", earning an MTV Video Music Award nomination.[14] Antichrist Superstar (1996) debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, selling nearly 2 million U.S. copies and 7 million worldwide, despite Christian backlash.[15][16]
Mechanical Animals (1998), inspired by glam rock, hit number one but sold 1.4 million U.S. copies, disappointing Interscope.[17] Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) (2000) addressed Columbine blame, earning critical praise but modest sales.[18] The Golden Age of Grotesque (2003), influenced by 1920s Berlin, also topped the Billboard 200, selling 527,000 U.S. copies.[19] After a hiatus, Eat Me, Drink Me (2007) reflected personal turmoil, followed by The High End of Low (2009), their last with Interscope.[20] Signing with Cooking Vinyl in 2011, they released Born Villain (2012).[21] The Pale Emperor (2015) and Heaven Upside Down (2017) with Loma Vista Recordings marked a commercial resurgence, with "Kill4Me" peaking high on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart.[22] We Are Chaos (2020) became their tenth top-ten Billboard 200 album.[23]
In 2024, Manson toured with Five Finger Death Punch, releasing singles "As Sick as the Secrets Within" and "Raise the Red Flag", with plans for 2025 European shows.[24][25] The band has sold over 50 million records worldwide, with 8.7 million U.S. album sales by 2011, earning multiple platinum and gold certifications.[26][27]
Marilyn Manson has worked with numerous artists beyond his band.[28] Rasputina opened for Manson’s "Dead to the World Tour" in 1996–97, with Melora Creager adding cello and vocals, notably on "Apple of Sodom" (a 1998 B-side).[29] Manson remixed Rasputina’s "Transylvanian Concubine" for their 1997 EP.[30] He befriended Billy Corgan in 1997, performing with The Smashing Pumpkins at the 1997 Bridge School Benefit and consulting Corgan on Mechanical Animals’ glam direction.[31] They co-headlined "The End Times Tour" in 2015.[32]
In 1998, Manson and Hole co-headlined the troubled "Beautiful Monsters Tour", marked by public feuds with Courtney Love and financial disputes; Hole left after nine of 37 dates.[33] The tour continued as the "Rock Is Dead Tour" with Jack Off Jill, whom Manson had produced demos for in the early '90s and later wrote liner notes for their 2006 compilation.[34] His vanity label, Posthuman Records (2000–2003), released the Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 soundtrack and Godhead’s 2000 Years of Human Error, featuring Manson on "Break You Down".[35]
Manson sang on Korn’s "Redeemer" for the 2002 Queen of the Damned soundtrack, remixed Linkin Park’s "By Myself" for Reanimation, and scored Resident Evil with Marco Beltrami.[36][37] He featured on Lady Gaga’s 2008 "LoveGame" remix, Skylar Grey’s 2011 "Can’t Haunt Me", Avril Lavigne’s 2013 "Bad Girl", and Emigrate’s 2014 "Hypothetical".[38][39] In 2015, he joined the Soul Rebels for "The Beautiful People" at Summer Sonic Festival.[40] With Shooter Jennings, he covered "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" for 2016’s Countach (For Giorgio) and later collaborated on We Are Chaos (2020).[41]
In hip-hop, Manson featured on DMX’s 1998 "The Omen (Damien II)", Eminem’s 2000 "The Way I Am" video and live shows, Gucci Mane’s 2013 "Pussy Wet", and ASAP Ferg’s 2020 "Marilyn Manson".[42][43] He co-wrote and sang on Kanye West’s 2021 "Jail pt 2" from Donda, appearing at promotional events, and contributed to Donda 2 in 2022.[44][45]
Marilyn Manson debuted in film with a role in David Lynch’s Lost Highway (1997), followed by minor parts in Party Monster, Jawbreaker (1999), The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004), Rise (2007), and The Hire: Beat The Devil.[46] On TV, he played himself in Californication (2013), appeared in Eastbound & Down, voiced "Shadow" in Once Upon a Time, and featured in Clone High and Celebrity Deathmatch, contributing "Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes" to the latter’s soundtrack.[47]
In 2005, he told Rolling Stone he was shifting to filmmaking, frustrated with the music industry’s commercialization.[48] His directorial debut, Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll, planned since 2004 with Manson as Lewis Carroll, stalled after a 2010 shutdown due to violent content backlash and was abandoned by 2015 after psychological strain.[49] Manson portrayed Ron Tully in Sons of Anarchy’s final season (2014), Thomas Dinley in Salem’s third season (2016), and appeared in The New Pope (2020) meeting the Pope.[50][51][52]
Marilyn Manson began painting watercolors in 1999, initially creating five-minute pieces sold to drug dealers, he told i-D magazine in 2004.[53] His first exhibit, "The Golden Age of Grotesque," ran September 13–14, 2002, at the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions Centre. Art in America critic Max Henry compared them to a psychiatric patient’s therapy work, arguing their value stemmed from celebrity rather than artistic merit.[54] His second show, "Trismegistus," occurred September 14–15, 2004, in Paris and Berlin, featuring a centerpiece of a three-headed Christ on an antique embalmer’s table panel.
Manson dubbed his art movement Celebritarian Corporation, with the slogan "We will sell our shadow to those who stand within it." He traced its origins to 1998, noting in 2005 it had been "incubating for seven years."[55] This also named his Los Angeles gallery, Celebritarian Corporation Gallery of Fine Art, where his third exhibit launched. From April 2–17, 2007, 40 works showed at Space 39 Modern & Contemporary in Fort Myers, Florida, later moving to Cologne’s Gallery Brigitte Schenk (June 28–July 28, 2007). In 2010, he collaborated with David Lynch for "Genealogies of Pain," displaying 20 paintings at Vienna’s Kunsthalle gallery.[56] Hell, etc. was Marilyn Manson's third art exhibition, held at the Athenian Cultural Centre in Athens, Greece, from April 28 to May 2, 2010, after a delay from April 25 due to volcanic ash disruptions.[57] It featured recent and new watercolor works, open daily from 10:00 to 22:00, with flash photography banned to protect the sensitive pieces.[58]
Manson launched "Mansinthe," a Swiss-made absinthe, which earned mixed reviews—some called it "just plain," but it placed second in an Esquire top-five list and won gold at the 2008 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.[59][60][61] The Wormwood Society gave it moderate praise.[62] In 2015, Manson said he had stopped drinking absinthe.[63]
Marilyn Manson typically sings melodically, enhancing his vocal register with techniques like vocal fry, screaming, growling, and crooning.[64][65][66] He claims his voice has five tones, which mixing engineer Robert Carranza found form a pentagram in a phrasal analyzer.[67][68] With a baritone voice, his vocal range spans three octaves, from a low A1 in "Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon" to an E6 in "Hey, Cruel World..." on Born Villain.[69][70]
"Marilyn Manson" merges Marilyn Monroe, a 1950s sex symbol and enduring icon, with Charles Manson, the cult leader behind the Tate murders who died in prison in 2017.[71][72]
Manson trademarked his name, likening it to Walt Disney’s branding, as he told the 2015 Cannes Lions Festival and Larry King in 2013.[73][74] He registered four trademarks from 1994–1999 for entertainment and merchandising.[75] After false Columbine reports tied him to the shooters, he used these to issue cease and desist orders, though the backlash still damaged his career with venue bans and death threats.[76] He uses "Marilyn Manson" over his birth name, Brian Warner; his father started calling him "Manson" in 1993, citing "respect of the artist."[77]
In 1998, founding guitarist Scott Putesky (Daisy Berkowitz) sued Manson, the band, and attorney David Codikow for $15 million over unpaid royalties and rights, settling out of court for an undisclosed sum.[78][79] After $25,000 in damages during the 1998 Mechanical Animals Tour in Poughkeepsie, SPIN editor Craig Marks sued Manson and his bodyguards for $24 million; Manson countersued for $40 million, claiming libel. Marks dropped the suit, and Manson apologized with restitution.[80][81] In 2000, security officer David Diaz sued for $75,000 over an incident in Minneapolis; the jury ruled for Manson.[82] In 2001, Oakland County, Michigan, charged Manson with sexual misconduct against guard Joshua Keasler; reduced to disorderly conduct, he paid a $4,000 fine and settled the suit privately.[83][84] In 2002, Maria St. John sued Manson, alleging he gave her daughter Jennifer Syme cocaine and told her to drive, leading to her fatal crash; Manson denied the claims.[85] In 2007, ex-member Stephen Bier sued for $20 million in back pay; Manson countersued, and the case settled in 2009 with Bier’s lawyers receiving $380,000.[86][87]
Marilyn Manson has backed multiple charities. In 2002, he joined the Make-A-Wish Foundation to record with 16-year-old Andrew Baines, a terminally ill fan, for The Golden Age of Grotesque, thanking him for completing his art.[88] In 2013, he donated to Oxfam’s "Rumble in the Jumble" to support victims of abuse in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[89] He has aided Music for Life and Little Kids Rock, providing instruments and education to low-income kids, and Project Nightlight, encouraging youth to report abuse.[90] In 2019, he performed with Cyndi Lauper at her 'Home for the Holidays' concert, benefiting True Colors United to address LGBTQ youth homelessness.[91]
Manson was engaged to actress Rose McGowan from 1999 to 2001, ending due to "lifestyle differences".[92] He began dating burlesque artist Dita Von Teese in 2001, marrying her in 2004 in a private ceremony led by Alejandro Jodorowsky.[93] Von Teese filed for divorce in 2006, citing "irreconcilable differences", Manson’s partying, and infidelity; it was finalized in 2007.[94][95] His relationship with Evan Rachel Wood went public in 2007, marked by an on-off pattern. Manson proposed onstage in Paris in 2010, but they split later that year.[96][97] In 2012, photographer Lindsay Usich was identified as his girlfriend by Revolver; they married privately in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, confirmed by Usich’s name change to "Lindsay Elizabeth Warner".[98][99] He is godfather to Lily-Rose Depp.[100]
Manson was close to Anton LaVey and received an honorary priesthood in the Church of Satan for his achievements, not an official role, as clarified by the Church and Manson himself.[101][102] He rejects labels like misanthrope or atheist, emphasizing spirituality through creation, influenced by his Christian upbringing.[103][104] He draws from Aleister Crowley’s Thelemic ideas and Friedrich Nietzsche, notably quoting Crowley in his autobiography.[105]
Marilyn Manson is widely regarded as a provocative figure in rock music, often labeled a "pop culture icon" for his shock-rock persona.[106][107] In 1996, Manson faced bipartisan backlash when Empower America, led by William Bennett, Joe Lieberman, and C. Delores Tucker, condemned his album Smells Like Children as "nihilistic" and harmful to youth.[108] The release of Antichrist Superstar that year amplified scrutiny, with protests shadowing the "Dead to the World Tour" over alleged satanic and immoral acts.[109] State legislatures in Utah, South Carolina, and Virginia banned him from state venues, though these laws were later repealed after lawsuits from fans and the American Civil Liberties Union.[110]
In 1997, congressional hearings led by Lieberman and Sam Brownback examined his lyrics’ impact on youth, with one parent linking a suicide to "The Reflecting God."[111] The 1999 Columbine High School massacre intensified criticism when media falsely linked the shooters to Manson’s music.[112] Despite evidence they disliked his work, preferring bands like Rammstein, Manson was scapegoated, prompting concert cancellations and a letter from ten U.S. senators urging his label to stop distributing his music.[113] Manson canceled tour dates and addressed the blame in a Rolling Stone op-ed, critiquing media sensationalism and gun culture.[114] The 2000 album Holy Wood and his appearance in Bowling for Columbine reflected this fallout.[115] Manson’s music was tenuously tied to violent acts, including a 2000 Italian murder by schoolgirls, a 2003 French grave vandalism, and the 2003 murder of Jodi Jones in Scotland, where the killer owned Manson’s The Golden Age of Grotesque.[116] Similar connections emerged in the 2007 SuccessTech Academy shooting and a 2009 Louisiana school incident, both involving teens wearing Manson merchandise.[117][118]
In 2023, Manson pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor assault charge for blowing his nose on a videographer in 2019, receiving community service and a fine.[119] In 2021, ex-fiancée Evan Rachel Wood and four others alleged abuse, prompting Manson’s dismissal from his label, agency, and TV projects.[120] Five women filed lawsuits, which were dismissed or settled.[121] Manson sued Wood for defamation in 2022, but most claims were dismissed by 2024, with him ordered to pay her legal fees.[122] A four-year LACSD investigation concluded in January 2025 with no charges filed, citing insufficient evidence and expired statutes of limitations.[123]
Manson was a culture war agitator ... willing to jar and frighten the fuck out of the power structures ... and his tactics made him a target ... He put himself out there to take those attacks. And on some level, he's a saint for that.
Studio albums
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | "The Dope Show" | Best Hard Rock Performance | Nominated |
| 2001 | "Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes" | Best Metal Performance | Nominated |
| 2004 | "mOBSCENE" | Nominated | |
| 2013 | "No Reflection" | Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance | Nominated |
| 2022 | Donda (as featured artist) | Album of the Year | Nominated |
| Year | Winner | Category |
| 1997 | "Long Hard Road Out of Hell" | Best Song From a Movie Soundtrack[129] |
| 1999 | Marilyn Manson | Live Performer of the Year |
| 1998 | God Is in the TV | Home Video of the Year[130] |
| 2000 | Marilyn Manson | Male Performer of the Year[131] |