Lollapalooza, Waterloo Village, New Jersey, United States
Lollapalooza, Waterloo Village, 1991.
Gallery of Trent Reznor
1995
Trent Reznor and David Bowie during "The Outside Tour" in 1995. Reznor recalled: "We found out a way to do the show that made sense, where it all felt like one experience… One of the greatest moments of my life was standing onstage next to David Bowie while he sang 'Hurt' with me. I was outside of myself, thinking, 'I'm standing onstage next to the most important influence I've ever had, and he's singing a song I wrote in my bedroom.' It was just an awesome moment.
Gallery of Trent Reznor
2007
Leeds, Reading, United Kingdom
Nine Inch Nails Live at Leeds Festival 2007.
Gallery of Trent Reznor
2009
Santa Barbara, California, United States
Trent Reznor and Robin Finck, Santa Barbara, California 2009.
Gallery of Trent Reznor
2014
West Hollywood, California, United States
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Michael Keaton attend the cinema prive And PANDORA Jewelry host a special screening of "Gone Girl" on December 14, 2014 in West Hollywood, California.
Gallery of Trent Reznor
2014
Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, united States
Dean Fertina, Lindsey Buckingham (of Fleetwood Mac), Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails), Dave Grohl, and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age perform onstage during the 56th GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on January 26, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.
Gallery of Trent Reznor
2016
Nine Inch Nails In Twin Peaks.
Gallery of Trent Reznor
2017
Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California, United States
Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails performs onstage on day 3 of FYF Fest 2017 at Exposition Park on July 23, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.
Achievements
Membership
Awards
Academy Award
2011
Hollywood, California, United States
Atticus Ross (L) and Trent Reznor, winners of the Oscar for achievement in music (original score) for “The Social Network,” pose backstage at the 83rd Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, February 27, 2011.
Critics' Choice Movie Awards
2011
Los Angeles, California, United States
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross pose in the press room during the 16th annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Hollywood Palladium on January 14, 2011 in Los Angeles, California.
Trent Reznor and David Bowie during "The Outside Tour" in 1995. Reznor recalled: "We found out a way to do the show that made sense, where it all felt like one experience… One of the greatest moments of my life was standing onstage next to David Bowie while he sang 'Hurt' with me. I was outside of myself, thinking, 'I'm standing onstage next to the most important influence I've ever had, and he's singing a song I wrote in my bedroom.' It was just an awesome moment.
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross pose in the press room during the 16th annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Hollywood Palladium on January 14, 2011 in Los Angeles, California.
Atticus Ross (L) and Trent Reznor, winners of the Oscar for achievement in music (original score) for “The Social Network,” pose backstage at the 83rd Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, February 27, 2011.
The Beverly Hilton hotel, Beverly Hills, California, United States
Trent Reznor poses with his award for Best Original Score (Motion Picture) for "The Social Network" in the press room at the 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton hotel on January 16, 2011 in Beverly Hills, California.
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Michael Keaton attend the cinema prive And PANDORA Jewelry host a special screening of "Gone Girl" on December 14, 2014 in West Hollywood, California.
Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, united States
Dean Fertina, Lindsey Buckingham (of Fleetwood Mac), Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails), Dave Grohl, and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age perform onstage during the 56th GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on January 26, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.
Michael Trent Reznor is an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and film score composer. He is best known as the founder, primary musician, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock project Nine Inch Nails, which he founded in 1988 and of which he was the sole official member until adding long-time collaborator Atticus Ross as a permanent member in 2016.
Background
Reznor was born in Mercer, Pennsylvania, halfway between Pittsburgh and Erie, the son of Nancy Lou (née Clark) and Michael Reznor. After his parents divorced, he lived with his maternal grandparents, while his sister Tera lived with their mother. Reznor is a descendant of George Reznor, who founded the Reznor Company, a heating and air conditioning manufacturing company, in 1888. The family sold the business in the 1960s.
His grandfather, Bill Clark, told People magazine in February 1995 that Reznor was "a good kid ... a Boy Scout who loved to skateboard, build model planes, and play the piano".
Education
At Mercer Area Junior/Senior High School, he learned to play the tenor saxophone and tuba, and was a member of both the jazz and marching band. The school's former band director remembered him as "very upbeat and friendly". Reznor also became involved in theater while in high school, and was voted "Best in Drama" by classmates for his roles as Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar and Professor Harold Hill in The Music Man. He graduated in 1983 and enrolled at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, where he studied computer engineering.
At Allegheny College Trent Reznor played in several bands and held various jobs until eventually finding work in a recording studio. The studio's owner allowed him to use the space for his own efforts in his off-time. One of the demos Reznor created there - on which he played all the instruments himself - led to several offers from labels, and in 1988 he signed with TVT.
Reznor released his first Nine Inch Nails album, Pretty Hate Machine, in 1989. With its dark lyrics and driving sound, the record quickly became popular on college radio, and the video for the song “Head Like a Hole” enjoyed substantial airplay on MTV. To support the album, Reznor also assembled a band and toured for several years, with notable performances at the Lollapalooza music festival and opening slots for Guns 'n Roses.
Despite the success of Pretty Hate Machine, it took some time for Reznor to complete a follow-up effort, due to creative disputes with his label. However, he eventually reached an agreement that allowed him to go to Interscope, who also gave him his own label, called Nothing. The eight-song EP Broken debuted in 1992 and reached No. 7 of the album charts. The following year, Reznor also won his first Grammy, for the track “Wish,” in the best metal performance category.
Never shying away from controversy and disturbing imagery, Reznor had some of his videos for songs on Broken banned for their violent and unsettling content, including “Happiness in Slavery,” in which a man is shown being tortured by a machine. (A live recording of this song later brought his second best metal performance Grammy in 1995.)
Reznor’s second full-length release, The Downward Spiral (1994), bowed at number two on the Billboard album chart. On the strength of such singles as “Closer” and “Hurt,” the album soon surpassed the band’s debut in sales. (An emotional acoustic version of “Hurt” later became a surprise hit for country legend Johnny Cash.) Nine Inch Nails appeared as a headliner at the 1994 Woodstock festival, and “Happiness in Slavery,” a single recorded at that performance, earned Reznor a second Grammy. In 1995 Nine Inch Nails opened for David Bowie on his North American tour, but a new album was slow to follow, and much of Reznor’s time was spent in the production studio with label mate Marilyn Manson.
The double album The Fragile appeared in 1999 - hitting the top of the charts in its first week of release - but it faded quickly when no clear singles emerged. With Teeth (2005) also went to number one, and its industrial dance-floor anthems signaled a return to the sound of The Downward Spiral. Given the half-decade wait between previous Nine Inch Nails releases, a veritable flurry of activity followed. The concept album Year Zero (2007) was accompanied by an ambitious viral marketing campaign, and instrumental samples used in its creation were collected in Ghosts I–IV (2008). Having become dissatisfied with the traditional music-distribution model, Reznor released both Ghosts I–IV and the song-oriented The Slip (2008) as free digital downloads from the Nine Inch Nails Web site. He returned to a major record label, however, for Hesitation Marks (2013), on which he continued to build dynamic songs from tense textured grooves. Nine Inch Nails later dropped the EP Not the Actual Events (2016), praised as a return to form. It was followed by Add Violence (2017) and Bad Witch (2018).
In addition to his work as Nine Inch Nails, Reznor has also become an accomplished soundtrack producer and composer. He started out working on such films as Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers (1994) and David Lynch’s Lost Highway (1997). More recently, Reznor teamed up with Atticus Ross to create the score for The Social Network (2010), which earned them both an Academy Award. They also picked up a Grammy in 2012 for best original score for visual media for their work on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Reznor is also active in the music streaming business. He first worked as the chief creative officer of Dr. Dre's Beats Music and later became involved with the Apple Music streaming service.
Reznor now states that he believes in God, but has no actual religion.
Politics
In an interview with the New York Times, Trent Reznor discussed what compels him to speak out on the current political climate and President Trump, and why younger pop artists shy away from taking similar public stances.
When asked if he felt a responsibility as an artist to weigh in on politics, Reznor said that for him, the need for an influential musician to speak out on injustice outweighs the impulse to protect their career. From the Times: "I was doing press with somebody in the mid-90s, and they made an argument that stayed with me: that I have influence, and that it’s my job to call out whatever needs to be called out, because there are people who feel the same way but need someone to articulate it. And I think about that today, because it seemed like it was a lot easier to just keep your mouth shut and let it go back then. You don’t hear a lot from the Taylor Swifts of the world, and top-tier, needle-moving cultural youth, because they are concerned about their brand, their demographic and their success and career and whatnot."
According to the Nine Inch Nails frontman, his issues with the Trump administration concern more than just partisan bickering and petty sniping across the aisle. From the Times: "I know how I feel, and I have let it get to me in ways I wish it hadn’t. My worrying about it isn’t helping anything. But what Donald Trump is doing is concerning and infuriating - and it’s not the conservative agenda, it’s not a question of religious preference, it’s not a question of should government be big or small. I don’t have any problem with those topics. But the disregard for decency and truth and civility is what’s really disheartening. It feels like a country that celebrates stupidity is really taking it up a notch."
Trent Reznor called Donald Trump “a complete fucking moron” who doesn’t believe in science in an interview to the Rolling Stones. Speaking to the Village Voice on the heels of Nine Inch Nails‘ Add Violence EP, Reznor criticized the new administration, especially Trump’s take on climate change; Reznor, with Atticus Ross, recently scored the documentary Before the Flood, an environmental call-to-action film warning of the irreversible effects of climate change.
Views
Speaking about the Internet, Trent Reznor said: "What has crept in is that everyone’s a commentator now. The Internet is giving voice to everybody thinking that someone gives a s--t what they have to say and they have the right. I think, in general, that has created a toxic environment for artists and led to some very safe music. Artists are trying to make music to please the tastemakers that tell the sheep what to like. It’s a vicious cycle and I think it’s unhealthy."
Reznor is also critical about popular music: "I’m not saying pop music isn’t well-crafted or the people who make it aren’t wonderful, but it’s not for me. I’ve asked people, “What is it that’s good about Drake?” I’ve said to my friends at Apple: “Explain to me why.” As the old guy, I don’t see it."
Quotations:
"While I was working on Downward Spiral, I was living in the house where Sharon Tate was killed. Then one day I met her sister. It was a random thing, just a brief encounter. And she said: "Are you exploiting my sister's death by living in her house?" For the first time, the whole thing kind of slapped me in the face. I said, "No, it's just sort of my own interest in American folklore. I'm in this place where a weird part of history occurred." I guess it never really struck me before, but it did then. She lost her sister from a senseless, ignorant situation that I don't want to support. When she was talking to me, I realized for the first time, "What if it was my sister?" I thought, "Fuck Charlie Manson." I went home and cried that night. It made me see there's another side to things, you know?"
"I think, fundamentally music is something inherently people love and need and relate to, and a lot of what's out right now feels like McDonalds. It's quick-fix. You kind of have a stomachache afterwards. It's not wholly satisfying. And it's fake. I would hope that the music that inspired me, that got me going, that talked to me, felt like it was coming from some place that had some true emotion and true integrity behind it. I think that can reemerge."
"An integral part of any relationship is knowing that you could be killed in your sleep at any time."
"My music has been a sort of personal therapy. It's got me out of tough times, it has been the friend that I needed, when I didn't have a friend there."
“If you have something to say, then say it. Express yourself and break the rules.”
"I think, fundamentally, music is something inherently people love and need and relate to, and a lot of what's out right now feels like McDonalds. It's quick-fix. You kind of have a stomachache afterwards."
"I'm just trying to figure out the right balance between making fans feel good and also maintaining some dignity for myself in the process."
"To switch right into creativity usually takes a bit of time, and this came up right at that juncture where I thought, okay, here's an opportunity to work with somebody I really respect in a new medium."
Personality
Reznor's style in the early days of Nine Inch Nails was described by People magazine in 1995 as "self-loathing, sexual obsession, torture and suicide over a thick sludge of gnashing guitars and computer-synthesized beats". The magazine also said that "[Reznor], like Alice Cooper and Ozzy Osbourne before him, has built his name on theatrics and nihilism".
During the five years following the release of The Downward Spiral, Reznor suffered depression, social anxiety disorder, and the death of his grandmother (who raised him). During this period of intense grief, he began abusing alcohol, cocaine, and other drugs. He eventually became addicted to alcohol and cocaine. He reached his darkest moment with substance abuse while touring in London for The Fragile, when he mistakenly purchased china white heroin, which he believed to be cocaine; he consequently overdosed and was resuscitated at a local hospital.
Physical Characteristics:
Reznor possesses a baritone vocal range.
Quotes from others about the person
Steve Hyden: "Trent Reznor is the rare rock star who can indulge his arty, esoteric impulses without sacrificing his more populist instincts."
Interests
video games
Writers
Ray Bradbury, George Orwell
Music & Bands
David Bowie, Rush, Queen, Pink Floyd, The Cure, Aphex Twin, Marilyn Manson
Connections
Reznor married Filipino-American singer-songwriter Mariqueen Maandig in October 2009. They have four children: sons Lazarus Echo Reznor (born October 10, 2010) and Balthazar Venn Reznor (born December 31, 2011), a third son whose name has not been revealed (born November 1, 2015), and daughter Nova Lux Reznor (born December 2016).
1993 - "Wish" - Best Metal Performance;
1996 - "Happiness in Slavery" (Live version as performed at Woodstock '94 music festival.) - Best Metal Performance.
1993 - "Wish" - Best Metal Performance;
1996 - "Happiness in Slavery" (Live version as performed at Woodstock '94 music festival.) - Best Metal Performance.
MVPA Awards
2006 - "Only" - Best Animated Video.
2006 - "Only" - Best Animated Video.
Kerrang! Awards
2005 - Nine Inch Nails - Classic Songwriter Award;
2005 - Nine Inch Nails - Kerrang! Icon Award.
2005 - Nine Inch Nails - Classic Songwriter Award;