Marilyn Manson: 20 Interesting Facts You Might Not Know

American rockers Marilyn Manson have been tearing up eardrums for a while now. I still remember when Sweet Dreams was released in 1995. It was one of the loudest songs I had heard at the time and it instantly became one of my favorite songs at the time (despite the fact that it was a cover of a Eurythmics song).

Call them controversial if you want, but they have been quite thought provoking sometimes. The lead singer (Marilyn Manson) has made statements like “Find out what’s really out there. I never said to be like me, I say be like you and make a difference.”, “This is the culture you’re raising your kids in. Don’t be surprised if it blows up in your face.” and “When all of your wishes are granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed.”. Like I said, quite thought provoking and almost insightful.

Here are 20 facts you might not have known about Marilyn Manson:

1. The lead singer, Marilyn Manson, was born in 1969 in Ohio in the United States as Brian Hugh Warner.

2. Marilyn Manson was formed in 1989 by Brian Hugh Warner and Scott Putesky in Fort Lauberdale, Florida in the United States.

3. The current members of the band are Marilyn Manson, Paul Wiley, Juan Alderete and Brandon Pertzborn.

4. Zsa Zsa Speck, Olivia Newton Bundy, Gidget Gein, Sara Lee Lucas, Daisy Berkowitz, Zim Zum, John 5, Madonna Wayne Gacy, Tim Sköld, Ginger Fish, Chris Vrenna, Fred Sablan, Twiggy Ramirez, Tyler Bates and Gil Sharone are all former members of the band.

5. The band was originally known as Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids.

6. Marilyn Manson (the lead singer) has more than 450 scars on his body.

7. Following the Columbine High School massacre (in 1999) there were accusations that killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were influenced by Marilyn Manson‘s music. Later, evidence was presented that neither of them were fans of the band and many were led to criticize the media for using the band as a scapegoat instead of analyzing the underlying societal problems surrounding the incident. In the film Bowling for Columbine Marilyn Manson said “I wouldn’t say a single word to them; I would listen to what they have to say, and that’s what no one did” when asked what he would say to the 2 killers.

8. Marilyn Manson has sold over 50 million albums worldwide.

9. Most members of the band get their first name from a model actress and last from a famous killer. The first member that broke away from the Model/Serial Killer band name pattern was guitarist Daisy Berkowitz’s replacement, Zim Zum, who in turn was replaced in 1998 by John 5.

10. Marilyn Manson has been nominated for 4 Grammy Awards for “The Dope Show” for Best Hard Rock Performance (in 1999), “Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes” for Best Metal Performance (in 2001), “mOBSCENE” for Best Metal Performance (in 2004) and “No Reflection” in 2013.

11. As a child, Brian Warner attended Heritage Christian School where they taught students “the kind of music they shouldn’t listen”, and unlikely he picked up Heavy Metal Music.

12. Before becoming a rock star, Marilyn Manson was pursuing a career in music journalism. He worked for a Fort Lauberdale Entertainment magazine, 25th Parallel. He started the band while he was working as a journalist.

13. Major US retailers such as Wall Mart, K-Mart, and Target once refused to sell the band’s 1998 album “Mechanical Animals” as the cover featured Manson’s head on a naked alien’s body.

14. In the movie Party Monster, Marilyn Manson played the role of Christina Superstar. In one of the scene, Manson had to smoke a cigarette. But since the rock star considered cigarettes unhealthy, he had never had one. At that time, Macaulay Culkin, who was playing the lead role in the movie, brought Manson his first pack of cigarettes – Virginia Slims.

15. Manson appeared as a roller-skating waiter in his favorite TV show, Eastbound and Down. He played Ron Tully in the final season of Sons of Anarchy. He also appeared as himself in the comedy-drama TV series Californication.

16. Manson often wears two different color contact lenses in both eyes as an homage to David Bowie’s two different sized pupils.

17. Manson once stated that in the beginning of his painting career, he used to make five-minute concepts and sell them to drug dealers. Manson then started a self-proclaimed art movement named Celebration Corporation. The slogan for this movement is “We will sell our shadow to those who stand within it”.

18.  When Brian Warner was still a music journalist, he got to interview many famous rock stars. One such rock star is Trent Reznor, who would later go on to produce to of Manson’s albums, and sign Manson to his label Nothing Records.

19. Two of the band’s albums have gone platinum in the USA: Antichrist Superstar and Mechanical Animals.

20. Manson is really close with Johnny Depp. They have matching back tattoos. Depp has even said that he used Manson as inspiration for the role of Willy Wonka in the remake. Luckily, this didn’t affect their friendship.

There you have it, 20 facts about Marilyn Manson. If you have anything that you can add to this list of facts, please comment on this post. Feedback is appreciated and welcome.

For those of you who don’t know what Marilyn Manson sounds like, this is the music video for their song “Disposable Teens” (this might not be for the faint at heart, just a warning).

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