Marilyn Manson (person)

Marilyn Manson (real name Brian Hugh Warner; born January 5, 1969) is an American musician and the leader of the band Marilyn Manson. Known for anti-religious, profane, and provocative lyrics and behavior, he has been the subject of much controversy, particularly during the late 1990s.

Career Musician

Early years

While in college, Warner became a music journalist for local magazines such as 25th Parallel and Tonight, Today. During his time as an interviewer he decided he wanted to be on the other side of the microphone, and subsequently resolved to form a rock band. Warner originally formed the band Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids with college friend Brian Tutunick (bass guitar), Scott Putesky (guitar), and Perry (keyboard). The original band had no live drummer, and used a drum machine instead. Warner took light and dark aspects of American pop culture, a culture in which serial killers and movie stars (Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson) have equal notoriety, and merged them with his own personality, creating the persona of Marilyn Manson. He drew all the band's concert flyers himself, and oversaw every aspect of the band as a true perfectionist would.

Related Topics:
Journalist - Rock band - Scott Putesky - Drum machine - Pop culture - Serial killer - Movie star - Marilyn Monroe - Charles Manson

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To gain more notoriety Manson single-handedly orchestrated an open mic poetry night at a South Florida club called Squeeze, which ended up being in his words, "The Goth Gong Show." Squeeze would later become his headquarters and home away from home, and where he would meet long time friend and confidant Jessicka. He became the great Oz to her Dorothy by convincing her to start a riot grrl band, which he later dubbed Jack Off Jill. The two at the time were said to be inseparable and Manson went on to have Jack Off Jill open most of his shows, along with producing many of the band's early recordings. Little did he know this is exactly what a man named Trent Reznor would do for him on a grander scale years later.

Related Topics:
Jessicka - Oz - Riot grrl - Jack Off Jill - Trent Reznor

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Rise to National Fame

After months of gigging, Manson decided to drop "and the Spooky Kids" from the band's title. The band was signed to Nothing Records, the label formed by Trent Reznor and John Malm, Jr., in 1992 shortly after it was formed. Their debut album, Portrait of an American Family was released in 1994, and Marilyn Manson toured with Nine Inch Nails, Pantera, and others to promote it. Although they received large amounts of press and interest in the underground scene, it wasn't until 1995 and the release of the EP Smells Like Children, which included a cover of the Eurythmics hit "Sweet Dreams", that the band became nationally famous. After the release of Antichrist Superstar (#3 Billboard Charts), the band's second LP, Manson severed ties with Reznor and looked to make his own decisions upon the band's change of style and sound in the third album, 1998's Mechanical Animals. The album was #1 in sales nationwide in its first week on the Billboard charts. Also in 1998, Manson released his autobiography, The Long Hard Road Out Of Hell (with help from Neil Strauss of Rolling Stone). It had sold 1.4 million copies by mid-year.

Related Topics:
Nothing Records - Trent Reznor - John Malm, Jr. - Portrait of an American Family - 1994 - Nine Inch Nails - Pantera - EP - Smells Like Children - Eurythmics - Antichrist Superstar - Billboard - LP - Mechanical Animals - Autobiography - The Long Hard Road Out Of Hell - Neil Strauss - Rolling Stone

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Columbine and Holy Wood

The fallout of the Columbine High School shootings of April 1999 would lead to accusations, death threats, and finger-pointing from lawmakers, including Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman. Manson, in turn, cancelled the remainder of his "Rock Is Dead" tour and underwent a media blackout, communicating almost solely through his website, Marilynmanson.com.

Related Topics:
Columbine High School shootings - April - 1999 - Connecticut - Senator - Joseph Lieberman

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Almost two years later, the album Holy Wood was released, a kind of response to the criticism he received after Columbine. It was also a theme album, covering issues such as gun violence, teen angst, and the role of television in American society. In it, Manson draws a parallel between the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the crucifixion of Jesus, and cites Mark David Chapman's murder of John Lennon--illustrating that television makes martyrs of the victims and stars of the killers. Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) entered the Billboard charts at #15 and was not as commercially successful as previous albums. The band toured for an entire year to promote Holy Wood, including the summer of 2001 on Ozzy Osbourne's Ozzfest tour.

Related Topics:
Holy Wood - John F. Kennedy - Jesus - Mark David Chapman - John Lennon - Ozzy Osbourne's - Ozzfest

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Recent

After the tour, Manson began work on the fifth LP, The Golden Age of Grotesque. The album wasn't released until May 2003, and it entered the charts at #1--albeit, during a commercially slow sales period. While its sales, like Holy Wood, were short of those generated by Mechanical Animals, it was nevertheless a commercial and critical success.

Related Topics:
The Golden Age of Grotesque - May 2003

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