Nine Inch Nails

Nine Inch Nails, often shortened to NIN and stylised as NIИ, is an industrial rock group from Cleveland, United States. It forms in 1988 and remains active. The project is led by Trent Reznor, who is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. For much of its history he is the only permanent member, with Atticus Ross added as an official member in 2016.

History and identity

The name is chosen mainly because it abbreviates easily. The band’s logo first appears in the video for debut single “Down In It”, and Reznor and Gary Talpas design it, drawing on the typography used on Talking Heads’ Remain in Light. The logo uses mirrored lettering for the second N. Talpas, who is from Cleveland, continues to design packaging for the group until 1997.

When Nine Inch Nails tour, Reznor usually puts together a live band for the project name. The live line-up changes over time, and the touring version is treated as distinct from the studio-based project. Aside from Reznor on lead vocals, the live personnel is not fixed. Concerts use themed visual elements, special effects and elaborate lighting, and songs are often rearranged for performance, with unused melodies or lyrics sometimes folded into other tracks.

Releases and sound

The debut album, Pretty Hate Machine (1989), appears on TVT Records. After disagreements with the label over promotion, the group moves to Interscope Records and releases the EP Broken (1992). The Downward Spiral (1994) and The Fragile (1999) bring critical and commercial success. After a hiatus, the band resumes touring and releases With Teeth (2005), followed by Year Zero (2007), Ghosts I–IV (2008), The Slip (2008), Hesitation Marks (2013), the EP trilogy Not the Actual Events (2016) and Add Violence (2017), and the album Bad Witch (2018). In 2020, it releases Ghosts V: Together and Ghosts VI: Locusts.

The group’s music is usually described through industrial rock, alternative rock and related electronic forms. Its sound also includes industrial, electro-industrial, electronic, electronic rock, dance, dark ambient and industrial metal elements. Reznor does not use the term industrial for his own work, though he borrows techniques from early industrial acts such as Throbbing Gristle and Test Dept. Early influences also include the Clash, Ministry, Skinny Puppy and Gary Numan, as well as Depeche Mode, Queen, King Crimson, Devo, the Cure, Joy Division, U2, Bauhaus, Adam Ant, Coil and Soft Cell. Reznor has also toured with some of these influences, including opening for Skinny Puppy in 1988, touring with David Bowie in 1995 and with Bauhaus in 2006.

The band’s songs often deal with religion, greed, fame, lust, addiction, self-deception, ageing, regret and nihilism, with some political writing on Year Zero. The Downward Spiral, The Fragile and Year Zero are concept albums. Reznor’s arrangements make frequent use of noise, distortion, dissonance, chromatic harmony, dynamic shifts and unusual time signatures, and some songs use software-altered vocals. Ambient passages appear across several records, especially the dark ambient Ghosts I–IV.

Members and line-up

Trent Reznor is the only constant member. Atticus Ross joins the official line-up in 2016. Touring and former members include Robin Finck, Josh Freese, Chris Vrenna, Richard Patrick, Jeff Ward, James Woolley, Danny Lohner, Charlie Clouser, Jerome Dillon, Jeordie White, Aaron North, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Ilan Rubin, Alessandro Cortini, Kevin McMahon, Keith Hillebrandt, Dave Ogilvie, Martin Atkins, Nick Rushe, Gary Talpas, Ron Musarra, David Haymes, Lee Mars, Adrian Belew, Joshua Eustis, Lisa Fischer, Sharlotte Gibson, Pino Palladino and Stu Brooks.

Recognition and influence

Nine Inch Nails sell more than 20 million records and receive 13 Grammy nominations, with wins for “Wish” and “Happiness in Slavery”. The band also receives two Kerrang! Awards, including the Kerrang! Icon award in 2006, and nine MTV Video Music Award nominations across several videos, including multiple nominations for “Closer” and “The Perfect Drug”. In 2020, the group is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after earlier nominations in 2014 and 2015. Rolling Stone places the band at No. 94 on its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time, and The Downward Spiral appears in the magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Reznor is named among Time magazine’s most influential people in 1997, and Spin describes him as “the most vital artist in music”. The band is widely credited with helping industrial music reach a larger audience. Reznor and Ross also receive songwriting and production credits for Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road”, which samples “34 Ghosts IV” from Ghosts I–IV; as producers, they share a CMA Award for Musical Event of the Year.