Nine Inch Nails

Trent Reznor guided Nine Inch Nails into the spotlight by channeling the abrasive edges of industrial rock toward broad commercial appeal throughout the 1990s. Songs including “Head Like a Hole,” “Closer,” and “Hurt” climbed the charts, while The Downward Spiral from 1994 and The Fragile issued in 1999 both reached number one. The group earned more than a dozen Grammy nominations and secured Best Metal Performance honors in 1992 and 1996 for “Wish” and “Happiness in Slavery,” both taken from the metallic EP Broken.

Reznor carried chart momentum into the following decade even while Nine Inch Nails gradually absorbed atmospheric electronic textures drawn from his Oscar-winning film work. In 2016, after serving as the project’s sole official member for many years, he formally added English producer Atticus Ross—his longtime scoring collaborator and bandmate in the side project How to Destroy Angels—as Nine Inch Nails’ second permanent member. Over the subsequent five years the pair maintained a high output that encompassed further film scores together with Nine Inch Nails releases such as the 2018 LP Bad Witch and two fresh chapters in the instrumental Ghosts series: Ghosts V: Together and Ghosts VI: Locusts, both appearing in 2020.

Michael Trent Reznor entered the world on May 17, 1965, in New Castle, Pennsylvania, and grew up in the small community of Mercer outside Pittsburgh. After his parents separated when he was six, his maternal grandparents raised him. Already fascinated by music as a child, Reznor mastered piano, tenor sax, and tuba, performed with his school’s jazz and marching ensembles, and appeared in high-school stagings of Jesus Christ Superstar and The Music Man. Beyond classical training, Kiss supplied his primary rock inspiration, its theatrical presentation and live spectacles later shaping Nine Inch Nails’ celebrated stage productions.

While briefly enrolled at Allegheny College to study music and computer engineering, Reznor joined the new-wave group Option 30 as vocalist and keyboardist before leaving school to devote himself to music full-time. He relocated to Cleveland, Ohio, accompanied by friend Chris Vrenna, who would become an original member of the first Nine Inch Nails lineup.

In Cleveland, Reznor gravitated toward new wave and the industrial approach of Ministry and Skinny Puppy. He performed locally for several years, first in the cover band the Urge and then as keyboardist for the Innocent, which issued its sole album, Livin’ in the Street on Red Label Records, in 1985 before Reznor departed. He next contributed keys, programming, and backing vocals to the synth-pop outfit Exotic Birds, also bringing Vrenna aboard on drums. Although short-lived, the association placed Reznor on screen with the group in the 1987 Michael J. Fox/Joan Jett film Light of Day, where they portrayed the fictional band The Problems. His final local engagements included pop act Slam Bamboo, which released the 1988 single “White Lies”/“Cry Like a Baby,” and new-wave group Lucky Pierre, whose singer Kevin McMahon would later form Prick, an early signing to Reznor’s future label Nothing Records.

Throughout these engagements Reznor kept developing his own music while working as assistant engineer and handyman at Cleveland’s Right Track studio. After hours, owner Bart Koster granted him free access to the facilities. The resulting early recordings, on which Reznor handled keyboards, drums, guitars, and samplers himself, formed the basis of Nine Inch Nails’ first demo, Purest Feeling. Following the project’s live debut opening for Skinny Puppy, Reznor circulated the demo and secured a contract with independent label TVT Records. He promptly returned to the studio to refine Purest Feeling material and add new tracks. The outcome, 1989’s Pretty Hate Machine, offered a dark, synth-driven take on industrial music that remained melodic and immediately accessible. Its lyrical concerns with sex, self-loathing, betrayal, angst, and religion would define Reznor’s early work. Although the album reached only number 75 on the Billboard 200, sustained cult support kept it on the chart and drove sales; radio and MTV exposure for “Down in It” and “Head Like a Hole” eventually made it the first independent release to achieve platinum certification.

Years of touring to promote Pretty Hate Machine expanded Nine Inch Nails’ audience across stylistic boundaries. The band—then centered on Reznor, Richard Patrick, Chris Vrenna, and rotating drummers and keyboardists—opened for Skinny Puppy as well as alternative and goth acts including the Jesus and Mary Chain and Peter Murphy of Bauhaus. In 1991 the group joined the first Lollapalooza tour alongside Siouxsie and the Banshees, Living Colour, Violent Femmes, Rollins Band, Lords of Acid, Jane’s Addiction, and others. Immediately afterward Nine Inch Nails traveled to Europe to support Guns N’ Roses on two dates, gaining entry to the German industrial scene.

Upon returning to the United States, Reznor became entangled in an extended legal dispute with TVT, whose insistence on another similarly styled hit album limited his artistic freedom. He quietly negotiated a new agreement with Interscope Records and established the vanity imprint Nothing Records. The band moved to a Los Angeles studio and recorded a set of aggressive, punk- and metal-influenced songs. Produced by Flood with drumming from Martin Atkins and Vrenna, the Broken EP arrived in September 1992 and entered the Billboard 200 Top Ten. Besides the Grammy-winning single “Wish,” the release featured covers of Adam and the Ants’ “(You’re So) Physical” and Reznor’s Pigface collaboration “Suck.” Reznor furthered his reputation as a provocateur with the widely banned video for “Happiness in Slavery,” which showed S&M performance artist Bob Flanagan being shredded by machinery. An unreleased long-form clip for Broken, never commercially distributed because of its graphic imagery of a torture victim being dismembered while watching Nine Inch Nails videos, circulated via bootlegs and resurfaced online in remastered form in 2006. The Broken period concluded with the first remix EP, Fixed.

Still working at the Los Angeles studio Le Pig—located in the same house where actress Sharon Tate had been murdered by Charles Manson’s followers in 1969—Reznor began the eagerly awaited successor to Pretty Hate Machine. The concept album The Downward Spiral, centered on its protagonist’s descent into self-destruction, was released in March 1994 and debuted at number two. Frequently regarded as Reznor’s masterpiece and one of the decade’s landmark recordings, it presented a bleak, nihilistic Nine Inch Nails sound that nonetheless propelled the band into mainstream consciousness. The hit single “Closer” received heavy MTV and radio play despite its explicit imagery and lyrics, while “Hurt” became a concert staple and later gained renewed attention through Johnny Cash’s 2003 acoustic cover.

The Downward Spiral expanded Nine Inch Nails’ visibility and inspired rock-radio imitators such as Gravity Kills, Stabbing Westward, and Filter. The Self Destruct Tour featured Vrenna on drums, James Woolley on keyboards, Robin Finck on guitar, and Danny Lohner on bass. Already known for intense performances that frequently destroyed equipment and caused injuries, Nine Inch Nails reinforced that reputation with a mud-soaked, scene-stealing set at Woodstock ’94 that earned another Grammy for the live recording of “Happiness in Slavery.” After the remix album Further Down the Spiral, the band continued touring, supported by then-newcomers Marilyn Manson, before joining major influence David Bowie on the co-headlining Dissonance Tour.

Reznor took his first steps into film scoring by assembling the soundtrack for Oliver Stone’s controversial Natural Born Killers, which incorporated the previously unreleased Nine Inch Nails track “Burn” along with edited versions of “Something I Can Never Have” and “A Warm Place.” A cover of Joy Division’s “Dead Souls” appeared on the soundtrack for The Crow. Reznor also supplied vocals for Tori Amos’ “Past the Mission” on her album Under the Pink.

Following the conclusion of the Spiral era, Nine Inch Nails entered a period of inactivity. Although Reznor stayed busy—producing Marilyn Manson’s breakthrough sophomore album Antichrist Superstar and contributing the Nine Inch Nails single “The Perfect Drug” to the Reznor-produced soundtrack for David Lynch’s Lost Highway—writer’s block, drug and alcohol addiction, and external expectations delayed the third album. Working at the newly built Nothing Studios in New Orleans, a reclusive Reznor spent five years shaping the follow-up, which finally appeared in 1999.

Shaped by the death of Reznor’s maternal grandmother, the fracturing of his friendship with Manson, and deepening addictions, the conceptual double-disc opus The Fragile debuted at number one and received double-platinum certification within months. Meticulously produced by Reznor and Alan Moulder, the set yielded singles “We’re in This Together,” “The Day the World Went Away,” “Into the Void,” and “Starfuckers, Inc.” The remix collection Things Falling Apart contained reworkings of Fragile tracks plus the previously unreleased “10 Miles High” and a Gary Numan cover of “Cars.” The Fragility tour lineup included Reznor, Finck, Lohner, newcomers Charlie Clouser on keyboards, and Jerome Dillon on drums. Footage from the trek became the documentary And All That Could Have Been, accompanied by a live recording and the limited-edition EP Still, which offered stripped-down renditions of deep cuts alongside previously unreleased material from the period.

Near the end of the Fragile cycle, Reznor entered rehab following an unexpected overdose in London, placing Nine Inch Nails on hiatus until the band resurfaced in 2005. Sober and newly focused, Reznor launched this phase with the equally driven fourth album With Teeth.

Departing from earlier gloom, frustration, and pain, With Teeth favored outward aggression, more mature emotional territory, and Reznor’s first sociopolitical commentary, marking a stylistic shift that would influence vocal approach, production, and collaborative outlook for the next decade. Produced by Reznor and Moulder with programming by Atticus Ross and live percussion by Dave Grohl, the taut record became the band’s second consecutive number-one album and spawned three chart-topping singles: “The Hand That Feeds,” “Only,” and “Every Day Is Exactly the Same.” An extensive tour featuring Reznor, bassist Jeordie White (aka Marilyn Manson’s Twiggy Ramirez), keyboardist Alessandro Cortini, guitarist Aaron North, and drummers Josh Freese and Jerome Dillon was documented on 2007’s Beside You in Time.

While the project’s first decade had been defined by long silences between major releases, the revitalized Nine Inch Nails began issuing material steadily after With Teeth. In early 2007 a multimedia campaign presented clues on T-shirts, websites, and concealed USB drives scattered across Europe. Part of an elaborate alternate-reality game, the clues outlined a fictional future dystopian America and resistance movement inspired by George W. Bush’s presidency and the post-9/11 Iraq invasion. This overtly political narrative underpinned Year Zero, released in April on Interscope Records. Once again joined by Ross, now elevated from assistant to producer—a role he would retain until becoming an official member a decade later—Reznor explored deeper digital soundscapes. The promotional tour visited Europe, Australia, the United States, and Asia, including Nine Inch Nails’ first performance in mainland China at the Beijing Pop Festival that September. Although a television series and film based on the Year Zero story were planned, neither materialized. The cycle closed with Year Zero Remixed, featuring reinterpretations by Ladytron, Bill Laswell, the Faint, and rapper Saul Williams, whose third album, 2007’s The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!, Reznor produced.

During this fertile stretch Nine Inch Nails also issued the four-part ambient instrumental collection Ghosts I-IV on Reznor’s new label, The Null Corporation, as well as the surprise release The Slip. Both 2008 projects were offered as free digital downloads. While The Slip charted outside the Billboard 200 Top Ten and single “Discipline” became another rock-radio success, Ghosts received two Grammy nominations (with track “34 Ghosts IV” later resurfacing in mainstream culture in 2019). Continuing the direct-to-fan model, Nine Inch Nails later supplied live footage from the Lights in the Sky tour to online supporters who assembled it into the documentary Another Version of the Truth.

The following year the band embarked on the Wave Goodbye tour. Upon its completion Nine Inch Nails entered an official extended hiatus, during which Reznor and Ross concentrated on film scores for director David Fincher—2010’s Oscar-winning The Social Network, 2011’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and 2014’s Gone Girl. The pair also formed the side project How to Destroy Angels with Reznor’s wife, Mariqueen Maandig. Functioning essentially as Nine Inch Nails with a female vocalist, the group released EPs in 2010 and 2012 plus a full-length album in 2013. Months after completing their first tour, Nine Inch Nails returned with their eighth album.

The Grammy-nominated Hesitation Marks (Columbia/The Null Corporation) appeared in August 2013. Produced by Reznor, Ross, and Moulder, it debuted at number three and featured the Top Ten single “Came Back Haunted” alongside “Copy of A” and “Everything.” Guest contributors included Pino Palladino, Lindsey Buckingham, and Adrian Belew. The ensuing Tension arena tour incorporated backup vocalists Lisa Fischer and Sharlotte Gibson together with a refreshed lineup of Reznor, Finck, Cortini, Palladino, drummer Ilan Rubin, and guitarist Josh Eustis. Nine Inch Nails extended the Hesitation Marks cycle into 2014 with a co-headlining tour alongside fellow ’90s stalwarts Soundgarden. That same year the band received a nomination for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In 2015 Nine Inch Nails initiated a series of remastered reissues. The Fragile was made available in instrumental form exclusively on a streaming platform, accompanied by The Fragile: Deviations 1, a collection of instrumental, alternate, and unreleased tracks. After completing scores for Before the Flood and Patriots Day, Reznor announced a multi-year project that produced a trilogy of Nine Inch Nails EPs and short albums beginning with late 2016’s Not the Actual Events. Returning to the abrasive industrial sound of earlier work, the five-song set included the brooding “She’s Gone Away” and featured special guests Mariqueen Maandig, Dave Grohl, and Dave Navarro. The liner notes also formally announced that Ross had become a permanent member of Nine Inch Nails.

In summer 2017 the second installment, Add Violence, entered the Top 20 and yielded the radio hit “Less Than,” which rose on both Mainstream Rock and Alternative Songs charts. One year later the trilogy concluded with Bad Witch, officially presented as the band’s ninth album. Notable for lead single “God Break Down the Door,” which incorporated jazz saxophone and Reznor’s Bowie-esque croon, the record also featured vocals from the Cult’s Ian Astbury and Mariqueen Maandig on “Shit Mirror.” Supporting the release, Nine Inch Nails launched the 2018 Cold and Black and Infinite tour, reuniting Reznor with the Jesus and Mary Chain, whom the band had opened for nearly three decades earlier.

In 2019 Nine Inch Nails enjoyed a pop-culture resurgence through unexpected channels. A partnership with Captain Marvel placed a vintage Nine Inch Nails shirt on the titular superhero throughout much of the film. The band reentered the charts via a clever cover—a pop reworking of “Head Like a Hole” titled “On a Roll,” performed by fictional pop star Ashley O, portrayed by Miley Cyrus—and through a strategic sample when Lil Nas X incorporated “34 Ghosts IV” into his record-breaking single “Old Town Road,” later earning Reznor and Ross Country Music Award honors. To close the year the pair composed three characteristically Nine Inch Nails–styled scores for the HBO series Watchmen.

At the beginning of the 2020s, amid a global pandemic, Nine Inch Nails revived the Ghosts series with sequels Ghosts V: Together and Ghosts VI: Locusts, nearly two dozen new pieces prompted by the desire for connection during uncertain times. The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2020, presented by Iggy Pop, though the celebration occurred years later once pandemic restrictions eased. In the interim Reznor and Ross earned another Oscar for their score to the animated film Soul, collaborated on HEALTH’s track “Isn’t Everyone,” and produced Halsey’s Grammy-nominated album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power. In 2022 Nine Inch Nails finally marked their Rock Hall induction with a historic hometown concert in Cleveland that included a surprise encore featuring Richard Patrick, Chris Vrenna, Danny Lohner, Alessandro Cortini, Robin Finck, Ilan Rubin, and Charlie Clouser; the set mixed early Nine Inch Nails classics and even included a performance of Filter’s “Hey Man Nice Shot.”

Although Nine Inch Nails remained largely inactive through 2023, Reznor and Ross appeared on Fever Ray’s “Even It Out” from Radical Romantics and composed scores for Bones and All, Empire of Light, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, The Killer, and Challengers.