Marilyn Manson’s Volatile Feud with Trent Reznor

Trent Reznor had an early aptitude for music, playing piano at the age of 12. His grandfather told People magazine in 1995, “Reznor was a good kid … a boy scout who loved to skateboard, build model planes, and play the piano. Music was his life, from the time he was a wee boy. He was so gifted.”

Music Allowed Trent Reznor to Reinvent Himself

Growing up in Pennsylvania, Reznor found excitement through music, horror movies and television to escape the boredom of small town life. It would be music though, that allowed him to reinvent himself later in his life.

Reznor would end up moving to Cleveland, Ohio in 1985, when he was 23 years old. He worked as a janitor and assistant engineer in a local studio. During his ‘off’ days, he was allowed to record material in the studio. That material would result in Nine Inch Nails’ debut record Pretty Hate Machine in 1989.

Pretty Hate Machine Goes Gold

The album would go Gold, despite the fact that it was released on an indie label. Reznor’s follow up, 1992’s EP, Broken, went in a heavier direction and resulted in a prolonged legal battle with his label TVT Records over creative control of Nine Inch Nails’ sound. Reznor eventually signed with a major label, Interscope.

Trent Reznor met a young Marilyn Manson around 1989 when Manson interviewed him while working as a journalist for a South Florida publication called The 25th Parallel.

“Trent and I met around the same time that Marilyn Manson was formed.” – Marilyn Manson

Manson told Guitar World in 1992, “Trent and I met around the same time that Marilyn Manson was formed. We became friends. We had a lot in common.”

By the early 90’s they met again when Manson’s band, The Spooky Kids were opening for Nine Inch Nails at a club in Florida. Manson, by his own admission, was tripping on acid and asked Reznor for feedback on the band’s performance. Reznor hadn’t watched the show but took a tape from Manson.

Reznor and Manson collaborated on a video for the song “Gave Up” from Nine Inch Nails EP, Broken. There were 3 different versions of the video with one featuring footage of Manson recording the track with the band.

Trent Reznor Forms Nothing Records

It was around this time that Reznor formed his own label, Nothing Records under Interscope and not long after that, Manson would hear from Reznor’s manager, asking for him to send more material his way. Manson was the first artist Reznor would sign.

By this point in time, Reznor was working on Nine Inch Nails second LP, The Downward Spiral at 1005 Cielo Drive. It was the same address that actress Sharon Tate was murdered in by followers of cult leader Charles Manson.

Marilyn Manson soon started work on his first album for Nothing Records, initially titled The Manson Family Album. Producer Roli Massoman was originally linked to the project but after several months in the studio in 1993, Manson wasn’t happy with the results. He felt the recordings were too polished and didn’t capture the live energy of the band.

“We spent seven weeks redoing, fixing, sometimes starting from scratch.” – Marilyn Manson

By October of 1993, Reznor stepped in the producer’s chair and brought in some of his session players from Nine Inch Nails to finish up the recording over a 2-month period. Manson told the Miami New Times, “We spent seven weeks redoing, fixing, sometimes starting from scratch. That was our band’s first experience in a real studio on a project this big. We didn’t know what to expect. It was 14-hour days, with a team – Trent, Alan Moulder, Sean Beavan, and me – bringing out the sound.”

When the album was submitted to Interscope for release in early 1994, the label initially rejected the record, citing concerns over references to Charles Manson. Around this time, Interscope’s parent company, Universal Music, was dealing with the backlash Guns N’ Roses had initiated when they recorded a cover of the Charles Manson song, “Look At Your Game Girl” a few months earlier, as a hidden track on their 1993 album, The Spaghetti Incident.

Portrait of an American Family

The name of Manson’ album was changed to Portrait of An American Family. Satisfied, Interscope put out the album, but it was a slow-burn, taking almost a year to catch on. The album’s success was spurred by Manson’s 1995 EP, Smells Like Children, which produced a monster hit with the cover of “Sweet Dreams”.

Manson would admit in his book that he butted heads with Nothing Records over what song to release as a single. The label wanted to put out his cover of “I Put A Spell On You”. “Sweet Dreams” was Manson’s first big hit on MTV and it introduced a lot of people to his shock-rocker persona.

The following year, Manson began work on the group’s second LP, Antichrist Superstar. Until this point, Reznor had produced all of the band’s releases, something which didn’t change with their next album.

“I started having dreams and visions of the world being destroyed and me being the only one left.” – Marilyn Manson

Manson recalled to Rolling Stone how one of his dreams served as an inspiration for the album, “I started having dreams and visions of the world being destroyed and me being the only one left. It was like an ultimate retribution for all of the things that have happened to me growing up. One dream took place some time in the future — it may have even been in Fort Lauderdale. Entertainment had gone to such an extreme that they had taken people and made them into zombies almost just for entertainment’s sake.”

Antichrist Superstar was recorded over an 8 month period and it was a tumultuous time for the group. The band’s behavior in the studio was destructive, resulting in damage to both the building and the band’s equipment. During the recording of the album, guitarist Daisy Berkowitz left the group after having much of his equipment destroyed by both the band and Reznor.

Creative Tension Spurs Feud Between Trent Reznor and Marilyn Manson

Twiggy Ramirez played a majority of the guitar tracks on the album and the record resulted in creative tension between Reznor and Manson. Manson claimed that Reznor was responsible for starting the feud in the studio, telling Howard Stern, “Trent came to me and said, ‘We need to stop doing drugs. The very next day I stopped doing drugs. Then things changed and I was the nerd.”

Reznor, according to Manson, didn’t clean up. Soon, Twiggy Ramirez and Trent Reznor were making fun of Manson calling him “Arch deluxe”, referring to a hamburger that McDonalds was marketing at the time, exclusively to adults.

Following a fight between Reznor and Manson in the studio, Reznor kicked Manson out, before he took a hammer and destroyed the hard drive that contained what many thought were the masters for the album. In the years that followed, Manson thought the masters were lost but it would turn out they were never on the hard drive that Reznor smashed.

Antichrist Superstar Makes Marilyn Manson a Household Name

Antichrist Superstar would be the album that made Manson a household name, a staple of MTV and filled religious conservatives with fear. Manson took on a larger-than-life persona with the media and religious organizations, making him public enemy No. 1. He recreated the fear of the satanic panic.

Manson’s concerts were picketed, he was barred from playing state-run venues and he became a scapegoat for many of the problems America’s youth were facing. Some states offered Manson money to not play their state and schools in Florida went as far as threatening to expel students who attended his concerts.

In 1997, The David Lynch Film, Lost Highway featured musical contributions from both Marilyn Manson and Trent Reznor who were still wrapping up Antichrist Superstar. The project took Reznor off Manson’s album for a little while and it only added to their strained relationship.

Manson also made a cameo in the film with Twiggy Ramirez. It was reported that Lynch initially asked Manson to score the soundtrack, but the job eventually went to Reznor. Manson left Nothing Records shortly after.

“Reznor is savagely aware of his place in the current strata of pop stars.” – Spin magazine

The following year, Reznor was interviewed by Spin magazine where the publication wrote, “Unlike many musicians, Reznor is savagely aware of his place in the current strata of pop stars. He constantly compares himself to other musicians, saying that he ‘can’t write a thousand songs like Billy Corgan”, that he’s “not as careerist as Marilyn Manson”.

Reznor would end up returning to Nine Inch Nails in 1999 to put out the group’s third LP The Fragile. A song called “Starfers Inc” was featured on the album. Some interpreted the single as a shot at both Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson.

First Sign of Reconciliation

The irony of the diss track was that it spelled the first sign of reconciliation between Trent Reznor and Marilyn Manson. Manson would appear in and co-direct the music video for the song. He also made a surprise appearance at Nine Inch Nails’ concert on May 9, 2000 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, to perform the track. Manson also performed his own song, “Beautiful People” with Nine Inch Nails at the concert.

“We were like brothers and I couldn’t even tell you why we fell out.” – Trent Reznor

It was around this time that Reznor would speak to Kerrang magazine where he reflected on his new relationship with Manson, “It felt really good to see the guy again and hang out. I reluctantly missed him. We were like brothers and I couldn’t even tell you why we fell out. It was something to do with him getting some fame and both of us being out of our minds.”

The reconciliation would be short-lived. Manson and Reznor went back to sniping at each other in the press. The source of the escalating tension was said to be the masters from Manson’s first albums that he wanted access to.

“It’s very hard to believe this, but representatives from Nothing Records have indicated that they are not able to find, or have lost the master recordings to my first three records.” – Marilyn Manson

Manson told an interviewer when asked about reissuing his first 3 albums, “I’d like to say yes, but there’s a legal matter pending that I can’t say too much about. It’s very hard to believe this, but representatives from Nothing Records have indicated that they are not able to find, or have lost the master recordings to my first three records.

It’s not something that you would ever let happen in musical history. I would imagine something like that could only be intentional. If not intentional, it would have to be done only through complete disregard. Now that Nothing Records doesn’t exist, I think there’s only one or two people responsible for that. Out of those two people, there’s only one that really has an opinion of me that is voiced very often.”

“I’m disappointed, but you lose friends along the way.” – Trent Reznor

This, coupled with the fact that he got sober in 2001, led Reznor to keep a distance between himself and Manson. Reznor claimed to outlet WENN, “I’m not blameless, for sure but part of it is that we were friends. I was helping him out, then he’s on my label, then he’s opening for my band, and the competitive nature of it got to him. I’m disappointed, but you lose friends along the way. There’s a toxic element to him that probably wouldn’t be healthy for me to be around.”

Fast forward to 2009, Reznor gave an interview to Mojo magazine, again blasting Manson, “He’s a malicious guy and will step on anybody’s face to succeed and cross any line of decency. Seeing him now, drugs and alcohol now rule his life and he’s become a dopey clown.”

In 2011, Reznor was asked whether he’d work with Manson again. He responded that Manson is “a talented person” and that, “we’ve had our problems, but I wear suits… I’m an adult now.”

“I don’t have any bad feelings towards him.” – Marilyn Manson

The following year, Manson was interviewed by Arizona Central where he discussed their relationship, “I don’t have any bad feelings towards him. I really don’t. He helped put me out into this world and I went my way and whatever happened happened. I don’t think you should go back and fix things that have already been done anyway… I don’t think there is tension. I don’t think we ever really had a lot in common. We had a certain sense of humor in common. He was always more of a jock and I was more of a burnout.”

“I wish him the best and we were good friends at one point in the past…” – Trent Reznor

In 2015, Reznor spoke to Rolling Stone and the topic of Manson came up again, “I mean, I really haven’t thought much about the guy. I wish him the best and we were good friends at one point in the past, and we became not such good friends. People change, and I don’t go around carrying it on my shoulders at all…”

In 2017, Manson confirmed to radio host Howard Stern that the beef was water under the bridge and that he was open to collaborating with Reznor. He revealed that Reznor still had the masters to Antichrist Superstar and the reunion was initiated when Manson was watching the documentary, The Defiant Ones about Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine.

The documentary featured an interview with Reznor. Manson admitted that it made him nostalgic for their friendship. It was around this time that Manson and Reznor appeared to start talking again. Manson told interviewer Zane Lowe, “He’s the one who’s actually sent me an email… He goes and he said in the email something along the lines of, ‘It really pisses me off that music’s not dangerous anymore and it reminds me of how great you were and I was and the time, and the era.”

In 2021, news broke of Manson’s alleged mistreatment of several high-profile women over the years. Manson would lose his recording contract and be dropped by his manager.

“I have been vocal over the years about my dislike of Manson as a person and cut ties with him nearly 25 years ago.” – Trent Reznor

Reznor would weigh in on the controversy in the news, putting out a statement that says, “I have been vocal over the years about my dislike of Manson as a person and cut ties with him nearly 25 years ago.”

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