Five musicians who Trent Reznor hates: “Get them out of my sight”
Trent Reznor doesn’t like something? Only on days ending in the letter Y. But in many senses, you can see his scathing point – why become a rock star if you can’t also indulge in the attitude, blasting everything and everyone you don’t like and never being afraid to make your real opinions crystal clear. In an age of straight-laced political correctness, it seems Reznor has never known the meaning of the phrase.
Of course, the idea of this is all well and good, but his dogged outspokenness has inevitably landed the Nine Inch Nails frontman in his fair share of controversy over time. Not that he really cares, however – his opinions have become a firm staple of the Reznor brand by this point, as particularly in the musical realm, his no-holes-barred approach has made his as formidable a presence as he is frankly terrifying to any young wannabe star.
Within this, Reznor has also famously never shied from sharing his thoughts on the state of the industry, simultaneously becoming a hero of the masses and an enemy of the corporate machine. In short, he’s never afraid to call bullshit when he sees it, and in that spirit, has quickly drawn up a hitlist of musicians you can imagine he’d rather see fall by the wayside.
They range from some of the biggest stars in the world, former friends, and mortal enemies, but Reznor is always characteristically vocal about the musicians he believes to be plaguing the industry, both past and present. It may not be getting him on any Christmas card lists, but in many ways, it wouldn’t be in the classic rocker’s nature to go about handing out roses. He’s more the type for industrial-strength guerrilla warfare.
Five musicians Trent Reznor can’t stand:
Marilyn Manson
In fairness to Reznor, his frosty stance towards Marilyn Manson is hardly an unpopular opinion these days. However, it’s worth remembering that back in the heady days of the industrial 1990s, the two were quite literally cut from the same cloth, as it was Reznor who was responsible for launching Manson into the world after signing him to his label, Nothing Records.
But as Manson and his band quickly gained seismic success, relations soured between the pair as the former claimed the green eyes of jealousy and competition ultimately got in the way of their existing friendship. Years later, with Reznor having to deny being involved in Manson’s sexual assault cases, it’s probably fair to assume that reconciliation is better left to the road not travelled.
Taylor Swift
Love her or loathe her, Taylor Swift is always going to be a controversial figure in the industry, whether it’s down to her largely inimitable success or her take on various world issues. But it was on this latter point that Reznor decided to hold Swift in the firing line, blasting her image-obsessed branding.
He explained in a 2018 interview that he decides to speak up on his opinions to provide a voice for the otherwise voiceless, but in comparison: “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.”
The Beatles
If nothing else, Reznor can take the prize for being perhaps one of the only musicians in the world brave enough to publicly blast The Beatles, when normally they are enshrined in an untouchable godly worship. He infamously claimed in 1994 that: “Fuck The Beatles, I hated people who were always going on about the fuckin’ Beatles. They’re dead. They’re ugly now. Get them out of my sight.”
However, the benefit of hindsight and the warping of time has somehow worked its magic on Reznor, as he conceded in 2011 that the Fabs eventually started rubbing off on his own music, saying: “Around The Downward Spiral, I really started digging White Album-era Beatles, and it expanded outward from there. They were so far ahead of the game, it’s just not fair.” It just goes to show that the psychedelic effects of the ‘60s could enamour even the most hardcore souls.
Guns N’ Roses
Guns N’ Roses are more of a friend turned for situation in Reznor’s eyes, as despite Axl Rose and Co. being indisputably one of the biggest rock bands of all time, the Nine Inch Nails frontman had a much more scathing assessment to make. Quite simply, he felt that by the time the ‘90s had rolled around and his own band was on the rise, Guns N’ Roses were just past it.
This was only compounded when Nine Inch Nails went on to support the band for their 1991 European tour, in which Reznor claimed the fanbase was less than welcoming. He recalled in a 2012 interview that: “They were only a few shows, and they were some of the worst performances Nine Inch Nails ever had in front of the most hostile, moronic audiences I’ve ever experienced.” You can imagine his invitation to go back on the road was hardly forthcoming after that.
Sinéad O’Connor
Sinéad O’Connor may be a rightly celebrated beacon of Irish music by today’s standards, but cast your mind back 30 years and it’s not difficult to remember that she was decidedly less so at the time. In a perverted sense, she and Reznor were somewhat kindred spirits in the controversy they attracted, but this never stopped the Nine Inch Nails side from still casting some bitter blows.
In fact, the mere sound of O’Connor almost put Reznor off a prolific collaboration with Tori Amos in the mid-‘90s, as he recalled in an interview at the time, with regard to his feelings towards the latter, that: “I really liked her first album, which is not the kind of thing I’d normally listen to. Someone had given it to me and said that it sounded like Sinéad O’Connor. I fucking can’t stand Sinéad O’Connor, so I ignored it. Then I saw the video for ‘Silent All These Years’ and it struck me in a way where I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not. But it was interesting.” It may be an unconventional technique of blasting one artist to laud another, but nevertheless, it’s all part of the Reznor trademark.
