Marilyn Manson

Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer and the only original member remaining of the same-titled band he founded in 1989. The band members initially created their stage names by combining the first name of an American female sex symbol, Marilyn Monroe, and the last name of a male criminal and cult leader, Charles Manson.

In the 1990s, the band released the albums Portrait of an American Family (1994), Antichrist Superstar (1996) and Mechanical Animals (1998), which included hit singles such as "The Beautiful People," "Tourniquet," "The Dope Show" and "Rock Is Dead." The band's 2000 album Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) is a direct response to mainstream media, who blamed Manson for supposedly influencing the perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre. Three of the band's albums have been awarded platinum status and three more went gold, and they have had eight top-ten albums and two number-one albums on the Billboard 200. He 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 five Grammy Awards.

Manson is widely considered one of the most controversial figures in heavy metal. In addition to the Columbine tragedy, his lyrics have been criticized by American politicians and examined in congressional hearings, with several U.S. states creating legislation specifically banning the group from performing in state-operated venues. His paintings and films appeared as evidence in a murder trial, and he has been accused of inspiring several other murders and school shootings. Outside of music, he 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.

In 2021, former partner Evan Rachel Wood accused Manson of psychological and sexual abuse, allegations which Manson denied. Other women followed with similar accusations, with five women suing him in civil court. One of these lawsuits was withdrawn after the accuser recanted her allegations and alleged Wood pressured her to accuse Manson. He sued Wood for defamation, but later dropped the lawsuit after substantial portions of the suit were dismissed by Wood's anti-SLAPP motions, agreeing to pay her legal fees. A four-year criminal investigation of the abuse allegations by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department concluded in 2025, which resulted in no charges filed against Manson due to the expiration of the statute of limitations and a lack of evidence.

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

As a child, he attended his mother's Episcopal church, though his father was a Catholic. 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." He later transferred to GlenOak High School and graduated in 1987.

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. 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.

The band was formed in 1989 by Warner and guitarist Scott Putesky, with Warner writing lyrics and Putesky composing the majority of music. 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. 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, as well as experiments in reverse psychology and butchered animals remains. Within six months of forming, they were playing sold-out shows in 300-capacity nightclubs throughout Florida. 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.

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, when Reznor signed the act to his vanity label Nothing Records. Their debut studio album, Portrait of an American Family, was released in July 1994. Manson later criticized Nothing Records and its parent label Interscope for a perceived lack of promotion. 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. The record included their cover version of the Eurythmics's "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)," which established the band as a mainstream act. The song's music video was placed on heavy rotation on MTV, and earned the band their first nomination for Best Rock Video at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards. Their second studio album, 1996's Antichrist Superstar, sparked a fierce backlash among Christian fundamentalists. 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, and 7 million copies worldwide. Lead single "The Beautiful People" received three nominations at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, where the band also performed.

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

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, 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. Despite being certified gold in the United States for shipments in excess of half a million units, mainstream media openly questioned the band's commercial appeal, noting the dominance of nu metal and controversial hip-hop artists such as Eminem. A cover of "Tainted Love" was an international hit in 2002, peaking at number one in several territories.

The Golden Age of Grotesque was released the following year, an album primarily inspired by the swing and burlesque movements of 1920s Berlin. In an extended metaphor found throughout the record, Manson compared his own often-criticized work to the Entartete Kunst banned by the Nazi regime. Like Mechanical Animals in 1998, The Golden Age of Grotesque debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, 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. 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. 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." The greatest hits compilation Lest We Forget: The Best Of was released in 2004.

In addition to his work with the band, Manson has collaborated extensively with other musicians. Cello rock act Rasputina opened for the band throughout the "Dead to the World Tour," the controversial tour supporting Antichrist Superstar. 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." Manson also created three remixes of the song "Transylvanian Concubine," two of which appeared on their 1997 EP Transylvanian Regurgitations. Manson befriended the Smashing Pumpkins vocalist Billy Corgan in 1997, and performed renditions of "Eye" and "The Beautiful People" alongside that band at the 1997 edition of Bridge School Benefit concert. 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." In 2015, Manson and the Smashing Pumpkins embarked on a co-headlining tour titled "The End Times Tour."

To promote Mechanical Animals in 1998, the band embarked on their first co-headlining concert tour: the "Beautiful Monsters Tour" with Hole. The tour was problematic, with Manson and Hole vocalist Courtney Love frequently insulting one another both on-stage and during interviews. 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. The tour was to consist of thirty-seven dates, although Hole left after nine. 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. 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.

Manson launched his own vanity label in 2000, Posthuman Records. 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. The latter album sold over 100,000 copies in the United States, and featured him performing vocals on the track "Break You Down." 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. Davis had been prevented from singing the song due to contractual issues with his record label. Manson also contributed a remix of the Linkin Park song "By Myself" to that band's remix album Reanimation, and collaborated with Marco Beltrami to create the score for the 2002 film Resident Evil.

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. He was a featured vocalist on "Can't Haunt Me," a track recorded in 2011 for Skylar Grey's unreleased album Invinsible. He appeared on "Bad Girl," a song from Avril Lavigne's 2013 self-titled album, and featured on the song "Hypothetical" from Emigrate's 2014 album Silent So Long. New Orleans brass ensemble the Soul Rebels performed "The Beautiful People" alongside Manson at the 2015 edition of the Japanese Summer Sonic Festival. 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). The two were introduced in 2013 by Manson's then-bassist Twiggy Ramirez, and the pair first collaborated that same year on a song for the soundtrack to the television series Sons of Anarchy. 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." Jennings later produced Manson's 2020 album We Are Chaos.

Manson has collaborated with numerous hip-hop artists. In 1998, he featured on "The Omen (Damien II)," a track on DMX's album Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood. Following the Columbine High School massacre, Manson was mentioned in the lyrics to Eminem's "The Way I Am" from The Marshall Mathers LP, in the lyric "When a dude's getting bullied and he shoots up the school and they blame it on Marilyn." Manson appeared in the song's music video, and a remix created by Danny Lohner and featuring Manson appeared on special editions of The Marshall Mathers LP. Manson also joined Eminem on-stage for several live performances of the track, one of which featured on Eminem's 2002 video album All Access Europe. He featured on "Pussy Wet," a song on Gucci Mane's 2013 mixtape Diary of a Trap God, and provided vocals on the song "Marilyn Manson" on the 2020 mixtape Floor Seats II by ASAP Ferg.

Manson made his film debut in 1997, as an actor in David Lynch's Lost Highway. Since then he has appeared in many minor roles and cameos, including Party Monster; then-girlfriend Rose McGowan's 1999 film Jawbreaker; Asia Argento's 2004 film The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things; Rise; The Hire: Beat The Devil, the sixth installment in the BMW films series; and Showtime's comedy-drama TV series Californication in 2013, in which Manson portrayed himself. He also appeared on HBO's Eastbound & Down, of which Manson is reportedly a longtime fan, and had lobbied to appear on for years; and ABC's Once Upon a Time, for which he provided the voice of the character "Shadow."

He was interviewed in Michael Moore's political documentary Bowling for Columbine (2002) in a discussion about possible motivations for the Columbine massacre and allegations that his music was somehow a factor. He has appeared in animated form in Clone High and participated in several episodes of the MTV series Celebrity Deathmatch, becoming the show's unofficial champion and mascot; he often performed the voice for his claymated puppet, and contributed the song "Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes" to the soundtrack album. In July 2005, Manson told Rolling Stone that he was shifting his focus from music to filmmaking – "I just don't think the world is worth putting music into right now. I no longer want to make art that other people – particularly record companies – are turning into a product. I just want to make art." Johnny Depp reportedly used Manson as his inspiration for his performance as Willy Wonka in the film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

He had been working on his directorial debut, Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll, a project that has been in development hell since 2004, with Manson also set to portray the role of Lewis Carroll, author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Initially announced as a web-only release, it was later decided to give the estimated $4.2 million budget film a conventional cinema release, with a slated release date of mid-2007. The film was to have an original music soundtrack with previously unreleased songs. Production of the film had been postponed indefinitely until after the Eat Me, Drink Me tour. In 2010, studio executives halted production on the project, reportedly in response to viewer reactions to the violent content featured in clips released online. The film was later officially put on "indefinite production hold."

According to a 2010 interview with cowriter Anthony Silva about the hold, the film was still on and the talk of it being shut down was just a myth.

In a June 2013 interview, Manson stated that he had "resurrected" the project, and that Roger Avary would direct it. In a separate interview during the previous year, he said a small crew similar to what he used for his "Slo-Mo-Tion" music video would be used, and would rather film the movie on an iPhone than not film it at all. In a Reddit AMA with Billy Corgan on April 4, 2015, Manson commented that he had withdrawn from the project because the writing process for the film was "so... damaging to my psyche, I've decided I don't want to have anything to do with it," and further commented that the only footage that had been created thus far had been content created for the trailer, which was made to promote the film.

Manson stated in a 2004 interview with i-D magazine to have begun his career as a watercolor painter in 1999 when he made five-minute concept pieces and sold them to drug dealers. On September 13–14, 2002, his first show, The Golden Age of Grotesque, was held at the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions Centre. Art in America's Max Henry likened them to the works of a "psychiatric patient given materials to use as therapy" and said his work would never be taken seriously in a fine art context, writing that the value was "in their celebrity, not the work." On September 14–15, 2004, Manson held a second exhibition on the first night in Paris and the second in Berlin. The show was named 'Trismegistus' which was also the title of the center piece of the exhibit – a large, three-headed Christ painted onto an antique wood panel from a portable embalmers table.

Manson named his self-proclaimed art movement Celebritarian Corporation. He has coined a slogan for the movement: "We will sell our shadow to those who stand within it." In 2005 he said that the Celebritarian Corporation has been "incubating for seven years" which if correct would indicate that Celebritarian Corporation, in some form, started in 1998. Celebritarian Corporation is also the namesake of an art gallery owned by Manson, called the Celebritarian Corporation Gallery of Fine Art in Los Angeles for which his third exhibition was the inaugural show. From April 2–17, 2007, his works were on show at the Space 39 Modern & Contemporary art gallery in Fort Myers, Florida. Forty pieces from this show traveled to Germany's Gallery Brigitte Schenk in Cologne to be publicly exhibited from June 28 – July 28, 2007. Manson revealed a series of 20 paintings in 2010 entitled Genealogies of Pain, an exhibition showcased at Vienna's Kunsthalle gallery which the artist collaborated on with David Lynch.

Manson has made an appearance in the video game Area 51 as Edgar, a grey alien. His song "Cruci-Fiction in Space" is featured in a commercial for the video game, The Darkness. His likeness is also featured on the Celebrity Deathmatch video game for which he recorded a song for the soundtrack (2003). The song "Use Your Fist and Not Your Mouth" was the credits score of the game Cold Fear as well as Spawn: Armageddon. The song "Four Rusted Horses" had an alternate version used in trailers for the video game Fear 3. A remix of the song "Tainted Love" appears in the debut trailer for the 2010 video game, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and in the launch trailer of the 2012 video game Twisted Metal. Manson's song "The Beautiful People" was featured in WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth, KickBeat and Brütal Legend. The song "Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon" is also featured in Saints Row: The Third. His music video to the song "Personal Jesus" was used in some parts of the Buzz! game series.

Hell, etc. was Manson's third art exhibition, held in Athens, Greece. The exhibition was open to the public from April 28, 2010, until May 2, 2010. Manson's more recent artworks and newly revealed pieces at the time, were displayed. The art exhibition was scheduled to run until April 25, 2010, however due to a volcanic ash cloud, it was postponed to run from April 28, 2010, until May 2, 2010. The exhibition was held at the Athenian Cultural Centre. The exhibition opened at 10:00 daily and was open until 22:00. Flash photography was prohibited inside the exhibition, as the watercolor paintings were extremely sensitive to the flash.

Manson launched "Mansinthe," his own brand of Swiss-made absinthe, which has received mixed reviews; some critics described the taste as being "just plain," but it came second to Versinthe in an Absinthe top five and won a gold medal at the 2008 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Other reviewers, such as critics at The Wormwood Society, have given the absinthe moderately high praise. In 2015, Manson stated he was no longer drinking absinthe.

Manson predominantly delivers lyrics in a melodic fashion, although he invariably enhances his vocal register by using several extended vocal techniques, such as vocal fry, screaming, growling and crooning. In one interview he claimed his voice has five different tones, which mixing engineer Robert Carranza discovered can form a pentagram when imported into a phrasal analyzer. He possesses a baritone vocal type, and has a vocal range which spans over three octaves. His lowest bass note of A1 can be heard in "Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon," while his highest note, an E6 – the first note of the whistle register — can be heard on the Born Villain song "Hey, Cruel World...."

Manson often appears wearing one or two coloured contact lenses as well as a distinctive and ever-changing androgynous wardrobe and makeup.

The name Marilyn Manson is formed by a juxtaposition of two opposing American cultural icons: Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson. Monroe, an actress, was one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and continues to be a major icon over 50 years after, while Manson, a cult leader, was responsible for the murder of actress Sharon Tate, as well as several others; and served a life sentence on murder and conspiracy charges until his death in 2017.

Manson has mentioned on at least two occasions that he trademarked the name Marilyn Manson. In an interview at the 2015 Cannes Lions Festival, he said: "I trademarked the name 'Marilyn Manson' the same way as Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse. It's not a stage name. It's not my legal name. ... Marilyn Manson is owned by Brian Warner, my real name." He also mentioned this in a 2013 interview with Larry King. The records of the United States Patent and Trademark Office show that he registered four trademarks of the name between 1994 and 1999, protecting entertainment services, merchandising and branding.

Manson says he used those trademark registrations to issue cease and desist orders to media outlets who wrongly blamed him for the Columbine High School massacre. One journalist had erroneously reported the shooters were "wearing Marilyn Manson makeup and t-shirts," although the reports were soon proved incorrect. He said "Once the wheels started spinning, Fox News started going." As a result of these accusations, Manson's career was seriously harmed. He was shunned by many venue owners and received numerous death threats.

Manson generally uses the name in lieu of his birth name. Though his mother referred to him by his birth name of Brian, his father opted to refer to his son as simply "Manson" since about 1993, saying: "It's called respect of the artist."

Manson has supported various charitable causes throughout his career. In 2002, he worked with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to collaborate with a fan who had been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. 16-year-old Andrew Baines from Tennessee was invited into the band's recording studio to record backing vocals for their then-upcoming album, The Golden Age of Grotesque. His website read: "Yesterday, I spent the afternoon with Andrew, who reminded me the things I create are only made complete by those who enjoy them. I just want to simply say, thank you to Andrew for sharing such an important wish with me." He contributed to Oxfam's 2013 "Rumble in the Jumble" event, which raised money to aid victims of domestic and sexual abuse in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He has supported various organizations – such as Music for Life and Little Kids Rock – which enable access to musical instruments and education to children of low-income families. He has also worked with Project Nightlight, a group that encourages children and teenagers to speak out against physical and sexual abuse. In 2019, he performed alongside Cyndi Lauper at her annual 'Home for the Holidays' benefit concert, with all proceeds donated to Lauper's True Colors United, which "works to develop solutions to youth homelessness that focus on the unique experiences of LGBTQ young people."

Manson was engaged to actress Rose McGowan from February 1999 to January 2001. McGowan later ended their engagement, citing "lifestyle differences."

Manson and burlesque dancer, model, and costume designer Dita Von Teese became a couple in 2001. He proposed on March 22, 2004, and they were married in a private, non-denominational ceremony officiated by Chilean film director Alejandro Jodorowsky. On December 30, 2006, Von Teese filed for divorce due to "irreconcilable differences." Von Teese also eventually stated she did not agree with Manson's "partying or his relationship with another girl." Manson's "heavy boozing" and distant behavior were also cited as cause for the split. A judgment of divorce was entered in Los Angeles Superior Court on December 27, 2007.

Manson claims he was a friend of Anton LaVey, and early on had also claimed LaVey inducted him as a minister in the Church of Satan. Later in his career, Manson downplayed this, saying he was "not necessarily" a minister: "that was something earlier... it was a friend of mine who's now dead, who was a philosopher that I thought I learned a lot from. And that was a title I was given, so a lot of people made a lot out of it. But it's not a real job, I didn't get paid for it." The Church of Satan itself later confirmed Manson was never ordained as a minister in their church, explaining "he was given an honorary priesthood for his real world accomplishments at the time."

Manson has been described as "the highest profile Satanist ever" with strong anti-Christian views and social Darwinist leanings.

"I'm not a misanthrope. I'm not a nihilist. I'm not an atheist. I believe in spirituality, but it really has to come from somewhere else. I learned a long time ago, you can't try to change the world, you can just try to make something in it. I think that's my spirituality, it's putting something into the world. If you take all the basic principles of any religion, it's usually about creation. There's also destruction, but creation essentially. I was raised Christian. I went to a Christian school, because my parents wanted me to get a better education. But when I got kicked out I was sent to public school, and got beat up more by the public school kids. But then I'd go to my friend's Passover and have fun."

Manson is also familiar with the writings of Aleister Crowley and Friedrich Nietzsche. He quotes Crowley throughout his autobiography, including Thelema's principal dictum: "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." Crowley's esoteric subject matter forms an important theme in much of Manson's early work.

2000: Nine Inch Nails – "Starfuckers, Inc."

2020: Corey Taylor – "CMFT Must Be Stopped"

2025: Falling In Reverse – "God Is a Weapon"

The Long Hard Road Out of Hell. New York: HarperCollins division ReganBooks, 1998 ISBN 0-06-039258-4.

Holy Wood. New York: HarperCollins division ReganBooks, Unreleased.

Genealogies of Pain. Nuremberg: Verlag für moderne Kunst Nürnberg, 2011 ISBN 978-3-86984-129-8.

Campaign. Calabasas: Grassy Slope Incorporated, 2011 ASIN B005J24ZHS.