History Music / MarilynManson

On the surface, this seems like an easy mistake to make. Throughout their career, Marilyn Manson have made good use of explicit live shows, controversial lyrics and outright bizarre music videos. The songs are cynical, with many lampooning topics such as religion, conformism and social hierarchy. Nothing was off-limits, including certain members of the band's own fanbase. Despite this, in true metal fashion, several of the songs and most of the videos don't give their meaning up easily, and are open to multiple interpretations.

* CallBack: Used all the time. For example, in ''1996'', there is the lyric "Anti the things I fucked and ate." In ''Arma-Goddamn-Motherfuckin-Geddon'', "First you try to fuck it, then you try to eat it, and if it hasn't learned your name you better kill it before they see it." In ''Heart-Shaped Glasses'', "That blue is getting me high and making me low." The next album was ''The High End of Low''. In ''If I Was Your Vampire'', "6 a.m. Christmas morning. No shadows, no reflections here." Then, two albums later, there is the Grammy-nominated song ''No Reflection''. Manson is also known to re-use lyrics from pre-''Portrait'' songs, like "Are all your infants in abortion cribs?"

The band are without a doubt [[NeverLiveItDown best known from the image of them conjured by the public]] at the height of their popularity in the 1990s, including the recurring summary of their work as "shock rock" (a label they resented, as they felt they never were trying to be shocking, but just doing what they wanted). Their graphic imagery and conceptual basis in critiquing and satirizing mainstream American media won them a reputation of a kind seldom seen before in music, to the tune of protests and petitions to cancel performances alongside states ''passing legislation'' to ban the group from performing at state-owned venues. In fact, the [[MediaScaremongering moral panic]] against them was so great that they were blamed for the UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} massacre by sections of the media under the belief that the killers had been inspired by their music.[[note]]Ironically, the killers hated them and saw them as sell-outs, and were fans of Music/{{KMFDM}} and Music/{{Rammstein}} instead.[[/note]]

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: His feelings on the "surgically removed a pair of ribs so he could suck his own dick" urban legend, which he openly finds to be pretty amusing.

* Paul Wiley – guitars, backing vocals

* Paul Wiley – guitars, backing vocals

* Brandon Pertzborn - Drums

The band are without a doubt [[NeverLiveItDown best known from the image of them conjured by the public]] at the height of their popularity in the 1990s, including the recurring summary of their work as "shock rock" (a label they resented, as they felt they never were trying to be shocking, but just doing what they wanted). Their graphic imagery and conceptual basis in critiquing and satirizing mainstream American media won them a reputation of a kind seldom seen before in music, to the tune of protests and petitions to cancel performances alongside states ''passing legislation'' to ban the group from performing at state-owned venues. In fact, the [[MediaScaremongering moral panic]] against them was so great that they were blamed for the UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} massacre by sections of the media under the belief that the killers had been inspired by their music. (Ironically, the killers hated them and saw them as sell-outs, and were fans of Music/{{KMFDM}} and Music/{{Rammstein}} instead.)

Due to the fact that the band name is also the lead singer's stage name, Marilyn Manson is one of the most notorious examples of IAmTheBand in existence. Many people are not, in fact, aware that they are a band, and credit all the group's music to the singer alone. This has become more prominent over time, to the point where Marilyn Manson the person has become a household name, yet the other band members are largely known only by fans, ex-fans and (some) music critics.

The number of them doesn't help -- Marilyn Manson's lineup changes almost constantly, and [[RevolvingDoorBand they have gone through 17 guitarists, bassists, drummers and keyboardists in just 20 years]].

The number of them doesn't help -- Marilyn Manson's lineup changes almost constantly, and [[RevolvingDoorBand they have gone through 17 guitarists, bassists, drummers and keyboardists in just 20 years]]. This has often been attributed by those who have worked with him to (among other things) Manson thinking that he truly is the band and the others are just there to provide background scenery for him.

With some of the band's more recent albums, however, this mindset was [[DefiedTrope defied]], as former lead guitarist Tyler Bates actually had quite a lot of power in the band alongside Manson, taking the co-creator role previously held by former bassist/guitarist Twiggy Ramirez while Ramirez was busy marrying Laney Chantal and working on his own projects.

* LeadBassist: Gidget Gein and Twiggy Ramirez both got more attention than any of the guitarists. For a time, Twiggy became the guitarist[[note]]which was actually his original instrument of choice way back when he was in Amboog-a-Lard[[/note]], but he reverted back to bass so Tyler Bates could do guitars before he was ejected from the band in 2017 due to allegations of sexual and physical abuse.

* TooSpicyForYogSothoth: Wanna freak Marilyn Manson out? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XG7eu09PBo Here's a how-to guide.]] Teena Bird is another infamous nutty fangirl.

Marilyn Manson (initially Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids) are an [[UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates American]] rock band founded in 1989. Most of their early music technically falls under IndustrialRock, but they have since embraced influences from a variety of rock subgenres including {{goth|Rock}} and {{glam|Rock}}.

In October 2017, Ramirez was fired after Jessicka Addams, vocalist for Music/JackOffJill and Ramirez's ex-girlfriend, publicly accused him of pervasive physical, emotional, and sexual abuse in their relationship. Manson himself would be accused of similar acts in 2021 by several former partners including Creator/EvanRachelWood, leading to accusations of hypocrisy and him being dropped by his label, manager and talent agency. Manson and his legal team have repeatedly denied the allegations, in turn claiming that several of his accusers conspired to organize statements that misrepresented their relationships with Manson. In February 2023, one of Manson's accusers recanted her allegations, claiming that she had been "manipulated" and "pressured" into spreading "publicly false accusations".

Oh, he was friends with Creator/AntonLaVey, too.

* AddledAddict: While heavy drug usage was common in their early days, Gidget Gein (aka Brad Roberts) was truly out of control, as his extensive heroin usage made his behavior erratic and unpredictable and led to multiple overdoses, one of which finally got him fired.

%%* AlbumTitleDrop

* AmicableExes: Manson and Dita claimed to be this, but it wasn't evident until they hung out in 2014 at an awards show, with them teasing each other over the failed marriage.
* TheAntiNihilist: The core idea behind Manson himself.
--> 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.
* ArcNumber: 15.

* BigBrotherMentor: Manson to Jack and Kelly Osbourne. Jack's first time at a strip club was with Manson, even. He also made a conscious effort to try to be this for Paris Jackson. No word on how it went, however.
* BilingualBonus: "Kinderfeld."

* BlahBlahBlah: In "This is the New Shit."

* ButtMonkey: For whatever reason, most of the guitarists in the band end up in this role.
** During the recording of ''Antichrist Superstar'', the first guitarist and co-founder [[http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/2004-04-15/news/manson-family-feud/4/ Daisy Berkowitz]] became the butt of everyone's jokes. Among other things, the other members of the band microwaved his guitar picks and four-track recorder just for shits and giggles. Daisy ended up quitting halfway through the recording of the album and later had to sue Manson for unpaid royalties.
** In life, Marilyn Manson himself. Reading his autobiography is setting yourself up for wanting to give him the biggest hug. Of all time. See also: WeUsedToBeFriends.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: In most of his earlier interviews, bassist / guitarist Twiggy was a Grade A example of this trope. Mostly he sat swaying slightly, fiddling with his clothing and staring at the ceiling, rarely speaking unless addressed directly, at which point he would reply with a nonsensical comment (one interview with Manson and Twiggy had the latter saying only "Whiskey and speed," and only answering a couple of questions with a coherent answer, before going back to "Whiskey and speed") and in several interviews, only played an audio clip with a tape player. Nobody knows whether he did this intentionally as part of his stage persona or he was just semi-permanently high. Although it seems to be mostly the former, as a person commented on one of his instagram posts asking about his odd behavior in early interviews and whether it was real or fake, and he simply responded with: "acting."
* ClusterFBomb: The band's songs generally contain a lot of swearing.
** "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" is an especially heinous example, considering "fuck" is one of the only words of the pre-hook.
** The entire ''Eat Me, Drink Me'' album was a notable aversion of this.

* DarkIsNotEvil: His darkness and use of demonic imagery is just part of his image, his public persona. He really is a pretty nice guy. Unless you're one of his ex-bandmates, ''especially'' if your name is Scott Putesky or Stephen Bier.
* DeadpanSnarker: Marilyn Manson in many interviews.

* DivorceAssetsConflict: Dita and Manson fought over the pets. Manson only got to keep one of the four, Lily White.
* DomesticAbuse: This is what got Jeordie White fired in 2017. Jack Off Jill vocalist and ex-girlfriend Jessicka Addams came out with allegations in a Facebook post in 2017, claiming that, during their on-and-off relationship from 1992-1997, Jeordie White (Twiggy) was emotionally, verbally, and physically abusive. She alleges that he had violent outbursts, was unfaithful, and eventually raped her. Though there was no actual substantial evidence to back up the claim, White was swiftly fired from the band. Although Manson claims that the firing was long-time coming due to creative differences, and says to have not cut ties with Jeordie in regards to their friendship, Manson doesn't follow White on any social media anymore and hasn't been seen with him since the allegations broke.

* {{Feghoot}}: Manson's autobiography ''The Long Hard Road Out of Hell'' featured an entire chapter about a girl he dated who had an unusual circular birthmark around her vagina. Though many events happen during this chapter, he does close it by stating that someone else he knew (the band's then-drummer Freddy Streihorst, aka Sara Lee Lucas) started dating her and "snatched her away like a greedy little Hobbit and indeed became Literature/{{The Lord of the Ring|s}}.
* FlatWhat: An interviewer did this after asking Twiggy about who had creative control in the band. Twiggy had replied "The chickens write the songs."
* FoeRomanceSubtext: Manson and his first guitarist and co-founder, Daisy Berkowitz. Their long habit of bashing each other in interviews and dragging each other into court for any reason makes them sound like a divorced couple fighting over custody of their only child. Most of this would be pretty standard, but for some reason, Manson's autobiography is also peppered with constant denigrating comments about Daisy's sex life.

* FreakyFashionMildMind: Despite the scary looks, he's quite an intelligent person.

* HappilyMarried: Twiggy and Laney are absolutely adorable non-stop, and she often comes with the band much in the same way Manson's father Hugh does. She likes to wear Twiggy's dresses and play around, and she gets on with Manson just as well as her husband does. Twiggy's firing in 2017 is likely to put the kibosh on her show attendance and friendship with Manson however.

* HeterosexualLifePartners: Manson and Twiggy and Manson and Johnny Depp. Possibly. None of them are 100% open about their sexualities, but Manson and Twiggy have, at the very least, performed oral sex on each other. None of them have claimed to be straight, bi, gay, pan or anything else. However it's likely their friendship has been permanently torpedoed by Manson firing Twiggy in 2017 after allegations of rape and domestic violence against him came out.

* HighTurnoverRate: The above list should speak for itself.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Manson was praised in 2017 for swiftly kicking Twiggy Ramirez out of the band after revelations about his abusive behaviour in relationships came to light. When Manson himself was accused of similar abusive behaviour in 2021 he was quickly accused of being one of these.

* IntergenerationalFriendship: Manson originally claimed this about Evan Rachel-Wood. Nobody bought it, even his wife. It turned out to be a lie, so for good reason. However, paparazzi footage does show that Laney, Lindsay, Manson and Twiggy all hang out, which is a mid-20s woman, a mid-30s woman and two mid-40s men. Lindsay is Manson's longtime fiancee and Laney is Twiggy's wife, but Manson and Laney and Twiggy and Lindsay are clearly friends, as shown by times where Twiggy and Laney have come to pick Manson and Lindsay up and swapped spots so Manson and Laney were in the back with Lindsay and Twiggy in the front.

* KindheartedCatLover: He's even done photo-ops with, and of, his beloved cat, Lily White. And fed her a heart from an unidentified animal in his prosthetics room on Valentine's Day with a music box playing while he recorded it and put it on Myspace.

* TheMistress: Evan Rachel-Wood was Manson's "friend" for a while while he was still married. Dita Von Teese, Manson's then wife, saw through it.

* NonAppearingTitle: Some songs.

* OlderThanTheyLook: Until [=2009ish=], looking like [[https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/evan-rachel-wood-and-marilyn-manson-at-the-gala-screening-of-sony-picture-id79445631?s=2048x2048 this]] at his mid-30s. And then he managed to beat decades of anorexia and proceeded [[https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/musician-marilyn-manson-arrives-at-the-2nd-annual-revolver-golden-picture-id98339604?s=2048x2048 to gain an extra chin]]. Thankfully, he's starting to regress in age again, playing '''[[http://twitchfilm.com/assets_c/2013/01/wrong_cops_Marilyn_Manson_01-thumb-630xauto-36439.jpeg a teenager]]''' at the age of 43, and looking like he's in his [=mid-20s=] while doing so.

* PassingTheTorch: The height of Manson's infamy was probably around the time of the Columbine shootings, which many right-wing zealots were, let's say, very eager to pin on Marilyn Manson. Music/{{Eminem}}, the ''other'' big shock artist of the time, couldn't help but intervene, with a line in his song "The Way I Am" dismissing the criticism (in true Eminem fashion), which lead to Manson himself appearing in the video and making cameos at Eminem's concerts. In hindsight, this was around the time that Eminem's trailer-park horror fantasies became the new target for protest and controversy, while Marilyn Manson maintained a level of notoriety but never had the same grip on mainstream consciousness in the 2000s.

* ProtestSong

* RecordProducer: Manson has had a co-producer credit on every album, but he's always gotten assistance from others -- Trent Reznor (''Portrait of an American Family'', ''Antichrist Superstar''[[note]]This one also included Sean Beavan and [[Music/SkinnyPuppy Dave Ogilvie]], from the NIN camp[[/note]]), [[Music/{{Soundgarden}} Michael]] [[Music/RedHotChiliPeppers Beinhorn]] (''Mechanical Animals''), [[Music/{{Oasis}} Dave Sardy]] (''Holy Wood''), Ben Grosse (''The Golden Age of Grotesque'', which was co-produced by bandmate Tim Skold), and others.

* SelfBackingVocalist

* SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll: The band single-handedly kept America's cocaine industry going through TheNineties. Well, sort of. Brad Stewart probably also kept more than a few heroin dealers afloat until it cost him his life.

* TheSocialDarwinist: According to [[http://www.esoterra.org/manson.htm this 1996 interview]], Manson follows this philosophy.
--> I don't think it is the strong people's responsibility to constantly be cleaning up after weak people. It's always weak people that come up with statements like "everybody's created equal". I've worked for what I have so why can't you? It's not my responsibility to wipe someone's ass. There's too many people in America. In the world. I think it's nature's way of striking back with all the new horrible diseases that are fucking everyone up. It's nature's way of saying "use some discretion".
** It should be noted, though, that Manson himself denies being Social Darwinist, with him even contributing to many charity events, including the Manke-A-Wish foundation. At the end of the day, he comes off much more as a [[TheAntiNihilist Anti-Nihilist]]. (With above interview being probably one of the many examples of him being a Troll)

* SpiritualSuccessor:
** Marilyn Manson got one later with metallers Motionless in White. [[http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_liiux85ZHH1qdk3v9o1_500.jpg Chris Motionless]] and [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Marilyn_Manson_Cannes.jpg Manson himself]] look similar, have lots of ReligionRantSong, both have had [[RevolvingDoorBand a hard time keeping members]] and even have [[http://www.metalsucks.net/2013/06/03/im-not-saying-motionless-in-white-wanna-be-marilyn-manson-butttt/ similar logos.]]
** When Marilyn Manson started to become known outside of the south Florida metal scene, people would often compare him to Music/AliceCooper.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU3l0gkk-E0 Taken to meta levels now that the two have been seen together numerous times]].
* SpokenWordInMusic: "Para-noir".

* TraumaCongaLine: 2017 is one for Manson himself:
** In July his father died.
** In September he nearly got flattened by a stage prop, and got off relatively lucky with only a broken tibia.
** In October, Jessicka Addams[[note]]Singer of Jack Off Jill and Scarling, has been friends with Brian Warner since before he made his stage name[[/note]] alleged that Twiggy had raped her during their relationship in the 90s, and Manson was forced to fire one of his oldest friends.
** Probably brought on by this, Manson showed up to a show in early 2018 so drunk or high that he [[http://www.metalinjection.net/shocking-revelations/video-mariyln-manson-has-melt-down-on-stage-fans-are-demanding-refunds babbled nonsense]] through 4 songs before being booed off stage.
* {{Troll}}: Manson himself is the biggest troll both to mainstream media and his own fans. "This Is The New Shit" is an attack on his fans, and The Nachtkabarett could be used for a good argument that he never sleeps, because of the hundreds of essays that are needed to decode all the imagery, symbolism, obscure references and other stuff in his music, clothing, pictures, videos, words and more.
* {{Ubermensch}}: Manson (the person) use to see himself as one of these and plays this role in ''Antichrist Superstar''.
* UnholyMatrimony: Twiggy and Laney, the male Kinderwhore and the adorable make-up and special effects artist. Formerly, Manson and Dita. If they ever move past engaged, Manson and Lindsay.

* VillainousFriendship: Manson and Johnny Depp have been friends since the 1980s, and told tales of their antics, which is the only fitting word. They have matching tattoos, Manson is "Uncle Manson" to Depp's daughter, and smoke weed in public. Manson and Twiggy were another long-lasting one, with a few year break at the start of the millennium until Manson was forced to fire Twiggy in 2017 after his ex Jessicka Addams made allegations of previous abuse and rape against him. Back when they were friends, Manson and Daisy took the villainous part way further, almost torching the entire apartment complex Manson's female stalker lived in, but they were scared away by a hobo. Manson and Music/{{Rammstein}} as well, especially him and Richard Kruspe. Manson and Till have even been arrested for the same thing: fake penis use on stage.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Manson was close friends with [[Music/NineInchNails Trent Reznor,]] who got his band on his Nothing Records label, produced their first two albums and generally helped promote them. Then, at some point they had a pretty drastic falling out, and despite a short reconciliation around 1999-2000 (enough for Manson to make a cameo in the "Starfuckers, Inc." video and play a concert together), they pretty quickly went back to not being on such good terms anymore. Trent took a potshot or two at Manson, mocking his "Personal Jesus" cover when responding to a fan's question, and Manson's still angry because the Nothing people lost the master tracks for his first three albums[[note]]This wasn't strictly Trent's fault, as he got involved in a lawsuit with his former manager and gave up the label. Also, Rob Sheridan had to completely re-do the artwork for the ''Pretty Hate Machine'' remaster because Gary Talpas' original was lost by the Nothing staff as well, so they were incompetent on several levels.[[/note]]. The whole feud's died down somewhat since, even if they're not gonna start being friendly again anytime soon.
-->'''[[https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/3b5foc/marilyn_manson_ama/csj0sqo Reddit user]]:''' Are you and Trent Reznor cool?
-->'''Manson:''' I mean, I don't have a problem with him. I have a problem with some of the things he's done to me in my career. But at the same time, I have to give him credit where credit is due, as being inspiration when I was starting out and giving me my break. But we're not at odds with each other. I just don't have interest in being friends anymore.
** Manson's respective friendships with Daisy Berkowitz and Madonna Wayne Gacy also seem to have gone down in flames quite spectacularly. Then again, lawsuits will do that (though relations with the latter had gone very far south before he even left, let alone took Manson to court).
** After Manson had to fire Twiggy in 2017 after his ex-girlfriend (also one of Manson's friends) made allegations of abuse against him, this can be put here too.

* {{Yandere}}: Pops up in many of the songs about Manson's romantic life, because Manson is one.

The number of them doesn't help -- Marilyn Manson's lineup changes almost constantly, and [[RevolvingDoorBand they have gone through 17 guitarists, bassists, drummers and keyboardists in just 20 years.]] This has often been attributed by those who have worked with him to (among other things) Manson thinking that he truly is the band and the others are just there to provide background scenery for him.

* IndustrialRock: Their primary genre and its arguable {{Trope Codifier}}s alongside Music/NineInchNails, with the exception of a few albums (''Mechanical Animals'' is GlamRock and ''Eat Me, Drink Me'' is primarily Goth Rock, and many of their songs on albums don't care if you can put them in a single genre). They are arguably one of the most popular in the genre, along with Music/{{Rammstein}} and Music/FearFactory.

Marilyn Manson (initially Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids) are an [[UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates American]] rock band founded in 1989. Most of their early music technically falls under IndustrialMetal, but they have since embraced influences from a variety of rock subgenres including {{goth|Rock}} and {{glam|Rock}}.

* GothRock: Manson has been moving in this direction since 2015's ''The Pale Emperor''; while the band's pre-2015 output showed influence from the genre (such as on ''Eat Me, Drink Me''), categorizing their music as Goth was very contentious, as old school Goths felt that the term was being hijacked by the band and their fans, and Goths did not want the public to perceive Goth as being synonymous with IndustrialMetal, which the band had fused with elements of GlamRock and Goth. To this date, Goths and Manson fans are very divided as to whether they are a Goth band or merely influenced by the genre.

* IndustrialMetal: Their primary genre and its arguable {{Trope Codifier}}s alongside Music/NineInchNails, with the exception of a few albums (''Mechanical Animals'' is GlamRock and ''Eat Me, Drink Me'' is primarily Goth Rock, and many of their songs on albums don't care if you can put them in a single genre). They are arguably one of the most popular in the genre, along with Music/{{Rammstein}} and Music/FearFactory.

** Marilyn Manson got one later with metallers Motionless in White. [[http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_liiux85ZHH1qdk3v9o1_500.jpg Chris Motionless]] and [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Marilyn_Manson_Cannes.jpg Manson himself]] look similar, have similar IndustrialMetal and GothicMetal sound, have lots of ReligionRantSong, both have had [[RevolvingDoorBand a hard time keeping members]] and even have [[http://www.metalsucks.net/2013/06/03/im-not-saying-motionless-in-white-wanna-be-marilyn-manson-butttt/ similar logos.]]

+ Music/{{Eminem}}, Music/{{Twiztid}}, Music/MotionlessInWhite, Music/BlackVeilBrides, Music/LadyGaga, Music/LilUziVert

+ Music/{{Eminem}}, Music/{{Twiztid}}, Music/MotionlessInWhite, Music/LadyGaga, Music/LilUziVert

+ Music/{{Eminem}}, Music/{{Twiztid}}, Music/MotionlessInWhite, Music/LadyGaga Music/LilUziVert