Trent Reznor is a very skilled and talented American musician, singer and songwriter who became known for his great work as the creator of American industrial rock band called Nine Inch Nails.
He also produced a lot of music and has composed a lot of movie music like for the Social Network movie and Bird Box which were huge movie hits.
Early years
Trent was born as Michael Trent Reznor on May 19, 1965, in a city called New Castle. New Castle is located in Lawrence County, in the state of Pennsylvania, United States.
His parents are named Nancy Lou and Michael Reznor and they come of German and Irish descent.
He grew up in Mercer County’s borough called Mercer. He was only six years old when his parents decided to divorce each other and he continued living with his grandparents from the mother’s side from that point.
He has a sister Tera but she stayed with their mother so they grew up separated most of the time.
He showed an early interest in music and started learning how to play the piano when he was 12 years old. He was very loved by his grandparents and was a very good grandchild.
He spent hours playing the piano, building, and crafting model planes and skateboarding. He was very passionate about music and his grandparents supported him in it.
He was a student at Mercer Area High School when he continued developing his music knowledge by learning to play tuba and saxophone.
His interest in music grew and he became a permanent member of highschool’s marching band and jazz band.
He showed interest in there as well so he gained the role of Juda sin a musical Jesus Christ Superstar and played a role in The Music Man.
After he graduated from high school he became a student of Allegheny College where he began his computer engineering studies. He liked computers too but not as much as music.
That is why he joined a local band during college. The band was named Option 30 and he was with them for a year until he decided to leave college and move to Cleveland. He hoped that in Cleveland his music career could take-off.
Career development
Upon his coming to Cleveland he joined a cover band named The Urge. In 1985 he became a keyboardist for another band: The Innocent.
He left this band pretty quickly, recognizing it is not a good place for him. A year later he became a member of a local band called Exotic Birds.
While being a member of this band he had his first movie appearance in a musical drama called „Light of Day“, with Michal J. Fox in the lead role.
Reznor had to work because his earning in the band weren’t enough so he was always on the look for a better job.
It came to hi min the shape of a janitor and assistant engineer at Right Track Studio, owned by Bart Koster.
Bart recognized his focus and permitted him to record his own demo tapes when the studio was empty. He started developing his music for his band but couldn’t find a band that suited him completely so it could produce the sound he wanted.
He played most of the instruments himself. He made his demo tapes and started sending them to various record labels. He got a positive response from a few so he finally signed a deal with TVT Records.
The debut album of his rock band Nine Inch Nails came out in 1989 under the name „Pretty Hate Machine“.
The album managed to enter the Billboard 200 Chart but although it didn’t peak very high it was recognized by rock lovers and soon gained popularity in the underground. The album was finally certified Gold in 1992.
In 1992, the band has released their first EP through TVT and Interscope Records. The album was produced by Trent himself.
The band toured with Lollapalooza in 1991.
They also received a Grammy Award in 1993 in the category of „Best Heavy Metal Performance“.
Their second album was released a year after, in 1994. It came high to No.2 on the Billboard charts under the title „The Downward Spiral“.
This album is the most selling album the band ever had. Due to their success, the band started touring throughout the States and did it in the following years.
They also performed at a music festival Woodstock’94 which was held for the 25th anniversary of Woodstock 1969.
Reznor started working on the new album but had a big blockage in songwriting and various problems with his drug abuse.
The band finally released their double album in 1999. The album did get positive reviews from the critics and went to No.1 on Billboard 200 chart but Reznor still had to finance the band’s tour from his own pocket.
Six years later Nine Inch Nails released their new album With Teeth. During those six years, the leader of the band Reznor went to rehab and coped with his drug addiction.
In 2007, the band released their 5th album again through Interscope records. It was a very successful conceptual album that charted on No.2 on US Billboard 200.
After the release of this album, Reznor decided to leave Interscope records and create his own label named „The Null Corporation“.
His label released the following two albums: „Ghosts I-IV“ in 2008 and „The Slip“ the same year. In 2009, the band went on hiatus which began after their Wave Goodbye Tour ended.
Four years later, the band signed a contract with Columbia Records and released their 8th album called „Hesitation Marks“.
The album was a huge success going to No.1. both on US Top Rock Albums chart and US Top Alternative Albums Chart.
Reznor had many collaborations in his career, and a loto f them were extremely successful.
He sang vocals on many songs performed by Black sabbath, Pigface, Tori Amos and more.
He also produced several albums like „Portrait o fan American Family“ for Marilyn Manson in 1994, which was an album that brought attention to that artist.
He appeared in David Bowie’s music video for his song „I’m Afraid of Americans“. This was in 1997.
He has huge respect for David Bowie and was very sad after he passed away.
In 1998, Reznor produced „Victory“, a song performed by The Notorious B.I.G.
In 2004, he and his band made six songs for an action thriller movie called „Man on Fire“. The lead role in the movie had the famous Denzel Washington, supported by Christopher Walken, Mickey Rourke, and other respectable actors.
In 2010, Reznor decided to found a new band, alongside Mariqueen Maandig and Atticus Ross. The band was named „How to Destroy Angels“. The same-named EP was released in summer that year.
In 2012 they have released another EP named „An Omen“. Their debut album „Welcome Oblivion“ was released in 2013.
In 1996, Trent and Nine Inch Nails made the original music for a video game „Quake“. He was a huge fan of „Doom“ so he was later hired to work on the sound for „Doom 3“. The music for “Doom 3” never reached the game.
In 1994, Reznor produced complete music for a very popular black comedy movie called „Natural Born Killers“ which was directed by Oliver Stone.
He says that he enjoyed working on it very much and that his creativity was on a very high level at that period.
In 1997, he also produced the soundtrack for a neo-noir movie called „Lost Highway“, made by David Lynch. He is a huge fan of David Lynch and his movie-making. He likes his ability to surprise the audience with his fantastic elements.
In 2009, he made a composition named „Theme for Tetsuo“ which was released on the soundtrack of a Japanese movie „Tetsuo: The Bullet Man“.
In 2010, he was praised for his work on composing music for „The Social Network“ movie directed by David Pincher.
In 2011 he worked on the music for „The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo“. He also worked on a psychological thriller from 2014 named „Gone Girl“, with Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike in the lead role.
In 2018, he scored an American thriller movie with Sandra Bullock in the lead role called Bird Box.
In 2004 he was sued by his former manager John Malun for unpaid commissions but in the end, Reznor won the rial and was awarded $5 million.
When he speaks about his influences he mentions bands like Clash and Queen and artists such as Freddie Mercury and David Bowie.
In 2011 he was awarded the Golden Globe Award in the category for Best Original Score for his work on the movie „The Social Network“.
He was nominated in the same category for his work on the „Girl with a Dragon Tattoo“ but in the end, he won the 2013 Grammy in another category: Best Score for Visual Media.
He has almost 300 thousand followers on his Instagram account but he is not extremely active on it.
Personal life
As for his personal life, it was very troubled for a long period of time. He suffered serious depression a few years after he released „The Downward Spiral“.
One of the causes was the death of his grandmother who was more close to him than his mother.
He started abusing drugs and alcohol which eventually ended in his going to rehab in 2001. It was the only way to get back on track and stay alive.
In 2009 he got married to his girlfriend Mariqueen Maandig. She is an American singer and songwriter of Filipino roots.
She often works with him on his songs and he asks her about her opinion. He says that his family is the reason he can stay clear and be on the right path.
The pair have four kids together: three sons and a daughter. Their names are Lazarus, Balthazar, and Lux and he adores all of them. They never shared their daughter’s name.
They are expecting another child at the beginning of 2020.
Quick summary
Full name: Michael Trent Reznor
Date of birth: May 19, 1965
Birthplace: New Castle, Pennsylvania, United States
Age: 54
Profession: singer, songwriter, producer
Height: 1, 7 m
Weight: 67 kg
Net Worth: $7 million