Nine Inch Nails

For such an uncommon band name, Nine Inch Nails (NIN) has had a wild sound that blended industrial music with rock music.

You can view the lyrics, alternate interprations and sheet music for Nine Inch Nails's Only at Lyrics.org.

They are considered one of the pacesetters of industrial rock and were particularly recognized as the most admired industrial rock band that brought the genre into the limelight.

Nine Inch Nails
Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails

They have managed to assimilate all genres of industrial rock from industrial, industrial dance, electro-industrial, industrial metal, electronic rock to the heavily down-tuned musical genre of alternative rock.

The sound of the band has been quite versatile; experimenting with earlier influences by punk rock bands such as the Ministry, U2, Joy Division, Adam Art, Soft Cell, and The Clash.

They are also noted for creating music using synthesizers, a style the group drew from English musician, Gary Anthony James Webb (Gray Numan).

Nine Inch Nails has had quite a number of line-up changes with a majority being touring band members. As of this writing, they have 22 former band members.

The current line-up for the American band is made up of:

  • founder Michael Trent Reznor (Lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist & primary songwriter)
  • Atticus Matthew Cowper Ross (Keyboards, synthesizers & programming)

Achievements of Nine Inch Nails

NIN is one of the most influential rock bands, having sold over 20 million records globally.

Founding member Michael Trent Reznor was recognized as one of the Most Vital Artists in Music in 2004.

The group has earned the 94th spot on Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All-Time together withthe number 200 spot for 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

They are ranked number 17 on MTV’s 100 Greatest Artists Videos Ever Made. In 2000, NIN earned the 43rd spot on Video Hit One’s (VH1) list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time

5 of the band’s 11 studio albums; Pretty Hate MachineThe Downward SpiralThe FragileWith Teeth and Hesitation Marks were certified (RIAA 3x Platinum & BPI Gold), (RIAA 4x Platinum, ARIA Gold, BPI Gold, and MC 3x Platinum), (RIAA 2x Platinum, BPI Silver, and MC Platinum), (RIAA Gold, BPI Gold, and MC platinum) and MC Gold respectively.

One of their Remix albums Further Down the Spiral earned RIAA Gold and BPI Gold certifications. The only live album of the Industrial rock band titled, And All That Could Have Been placed 41st and 26th in the Australian and US charts.

The band was not only certification-worthy but earned awards from prominent award organizations across the world. 

Nine Inch Nails received 12 Grammy nominations and won 2 in 1993 and 1995 for Best Metal Performance and Best Alternative Performance.

They won Best Tour of the Year from Rolling Stone.

They also received the Best Original Score– The Social Network from the Golden Globe, as well as the Music Video Production Awards, MVPA for Best Animated Video with 3 other nominations from the same.

They became recipients of two Kerrang! Awards in 2005 and 2007 for Classic Songwriter and Kerrang! Icon Award. 

The band was nominated for the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame three times and was finally inducted in 2020.

Interesting Facts about Nine Inch Nails

  • The band was formed in 1988 and never broke up within its first 33 years.
  • Michael Trent Reznor was a janitor at a recording studio where the band recorded during their beginning years. The manager of the studio allowed Reznor and the band to record after working hours at the studio.
  • During the early 1990s, Nine Inch Nails indulged in a publicized feud with its first record label, TVT Records over its intellectual property rights.
  • The band members almost lost their lives. In 1994, the band was scheduled to perform at the Woodstock Festival and were asleep in their bus en route, when a power line fell directly on the bus.
  • Reznor is the only NIN member that has been with the group since its formation in 1988.
  • In 2009, the group announced that their last show was going to be at the Bonnaroo Festival yet exactly a week later, they were prepared for a 15-date tour in the United States. They are very active to date.
  • NIN’s 2008 album, The Slip was released for free with Michael Trent Reznor bearing all the costs.
  • While there have been numerous speculations that the band’s name was a reference to the crucifixion of Jesus with nine-inch spikes, Reznor has argued that he chose the name simply because it was easier to abbreviate.

Brief Conclusion

In 2020, the band released their tenth and eleventh studio albums titled Ghosts V: Together, and Ghosts VI: Locusts.

They released these albums for free to show their solidarity with their fan base while the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak.

Famous Songs by Nine Inch Nails

Below is a list containing some of the biggest hits of Nine Inch Nails’ impressive career:

Nine Inch Nails

  • “Burn”
  • “Came Back Haunted”
  • “Capital G”
  • “Closer”
  • “Copy of a”
  • “Deep”
  • “Discipline”
  • “Down in It”
  • “Echoplex”
  • “Every Day Is Exactly the Same”
  • “Everything”
  • “God Break Down the Door”
  • “Happiness in Slavery”
  • “Head Like a Hole”
  • “Hurt”
  • “Into the Void”
  • “Less Than”
  • “March of the Pigs”
  • Only
  • “Physical”
  • “Piggy”
  • “Sin”
  • “Starf–kers, Inc.”
  • “Survivalism”
  • “The Day the World Went Away”
  • “The Hand That Feeds”
  • “The Perfect Drug”
  • “We’re in This Together”
  • “Wish”
  • “You Get What You Deserve”
  • “The Collector”

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