Marilyn Manson

Marilyn Manson is a misunderstood artist who was born Brian Hugh Warner in Canton, Ohio January 5th, 1969 with mother Barb Wyer and Hugh Warner. His father was a Catholic and mother Episcopalian. He was raised in his mother's religion, attending Heritage Christian School, though he later transferred out, graduating from Cardinal Gibbons High School in 1987. In 1990, Warner was a college student attending Broward Community College. He was working toward a journalism degree, and gaining experience in the field by writing music articles for a South Florida lifestyle magazine, 25th Parallel when he met several of the musicians to whom his own band would later be compared, including My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. Warner formed Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids in Florida in 1989 (the name was shortened to Marilyn Manson in 1992). While with The Spooky Kids, he was involved with Jeordie White (also known as Twiggy Ramirez) and Stephen Gregory Bier Jr. (also known as Madonna Wayne Gacy) in two side-projects: Satan on Fire, a faux-Christian death metal ensemble where he played bass, and drums in Mrs. Scabtree, a collaborative band formed with White and then girlfriend Jessicka (vocalist with the band Jack Off Jill)as a way to combat contractual agreements that prohibited Marilyn Manson from playing in certain clubs. In the summer of 1993, the band drew the attention of Trent Reznor. Reznor produced their 1994 debut album, Portrait of an American Family and released it on his Nothing Records label. The band began to develop a cult following, which grew larger with the release of Smells Like Children in 1995. That EP yielded the band's first big MTV hit with "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)", a cover of the 1983 Eurythmics hit. Antichrist Superstar (co-produced by Trent Reznor) was an even greater success. Three of the band's albums have been awarded platinum certification, three more gold, and the band has seen three of its releases debut in the top ten, including two number-one albums. Warner first worked as a producer with the band Jack Off Jill. He helped name the band and produce most of the band's early recordings, and also played guitar on the song "My Cat" and had the band open most of his South Florida shows. Warner later wrote the liner notes to the band's album Humid Teenage Mediocrity 1992-1995, a collection of early Jack Off Jill recordings. His stage name was formed from the names of actress Marilyn Monroe and convicted murderer Charles Manson.12 In 2004, the band's hit "mOBSCENE" was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Metal Performance". Warner made an appearance in the video game Area 51 as a Grey Alien named Edgar. His song "Cruci-Fiction In Space" is featured in a commercial for 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. According to his autobiography, Warner is six feet and three inches tall. Warner was offered the title of "Reverend Manson" by Church of Satan founder Anton Lavey and holds it as an honorary title, as described in his autobiography. He had been a long time fan of Dita Von Teese, and was a member of her website. They first met when he asked her to dance in one of his music videos. Though she was unable to, the two kept in contact. On his 32nd birthday, she arrived with a bottle of absinthe, and they became a couple. He proposed on March 22, 2004 and gave her a 1930s-era, 7-carat, European round-cut diamond engagement ring. On November 28, 2005, they were married in a private, non-denominational ceremony in their home. A larger ceremony was held on December 3 at Gurteen Castle in Kilsheelan (County Tipperary), Ireland, the home of their friend, Gottfried Helnwein. He now is dating 19-year-old actress Evan Rachel Wood who starred in Manson's recent hit single, "Heart-Shaped Glasses (When The Heart Guides The Hand)" and is also rumored to appear in Manson's upcoming film "Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll".