Nine Inch Nails

Nine Inch Nails

Nine Inch Nails is the name of a music project by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, as well as the name of the band hired by them to perform songs while on tour. It is an industrial rock band, and the most recognized one since the genre was introduced. Before Ross's inclusion in 2016, Nine Inch Nails was solely under the creative direction of Trent Reznor.

Nine Inch Nails (commonly abbreviated as NIN) was formed in Cleveland, Ohio, circa 1988, and has so far released eleven full-length studio albums, four EPs, seventeen singles, several remix collections, and some live material. Reznor's lyrics are largely concerned with the exploration of the self, but with albums such as Year Zero and The Slip, the lyrical focus shifted somewhat to extrospection. Earlier NIN material was created almost entirely by Reznor, but starting with The Fragile, he began to allow for a more collaborative writing process involving other players. The sonic ethos of NIN frequently juxtaposes electronic sounds with organic ones, and ugliness with beauty.

After recording a new album, the assembly of a new band usually follows, along with extensive touring; the live component of Nine Inch Nails is largely considered a separate entity from NIN in the recording studio. NIN's live shows often involve visually spectacular elements such as screens and lighting rigs (with more basic elements having been used on the Self Destruct and Fragility tours, and more sophisticated ones on the With Teeth Fall and Spring Arena tours, Performance 2007, Lights In The Sky and NIN 2013-2014 tours) and earlier shows would sometimes culminate with the destruction of musical instruments.

For more history of Nine Inch Nails, see Trent Reznor.

Wikipedia entry on Nine Inch Nails.

Body Of Work

See also Halo numbers.

Full-Length Albums

• Pretty Hate Machine (1989)
• The Downward Spiral (1994)
• The Fragile (1999)
• With Teeth (2005)
• Year Zero (2007)
• Ghosts I–IV (2008)
• The Slip (2008)
• Hesitation Marks (2013)
• Bad Witch (2018)
• Ghosts V: Together (2020)
• Ghosts VI: Locusts (2020)

EPs

• Broken (1992)
• Still (2002)
• Not The Actual Events (2016)
• Add Violence (2017)

Remix Collections

• Fixed (1992)
• Further Down The Spiral (1994)
• Things Falling Apart (2000)
• Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D (2007)
• Remix 2014 EP (2014) Digital only
• Recoiled (2014) Semi-official

Live Releases

• Closure (1997) Music video & Live documentary double VHS set
• And All That Could Have Been (2002) DVD, VHS, CD
• Beside You In Time (2007) DVD, HD DVD, Blu-ray
• Live 2013 EP (2013) Digital only

Other

• Quake Soundtrack (1996)
• The Fragile: Deviations 1 (2016)

Singles

Commercial

• Down In It (1989)
• Head Like A Hole (1990)
• Sin (1990)
• March Of The Pigs (1994)
• Closer/Closer To God (1994)
• The Perfect Drug (1997)
• The Day The World Went Away (1999)
• We're In This Together (1999)
• Into The Void (1999)
• The Hand That Feeds (2005)
• Only (2005)
• Every Day Is Exactly The Same (2006)
• Survivalism (2007)
• Capital G (2007)
• Came Back Haunted (2013) Digital only
• Copy Of A (2013) Digital only
• Everything (2013) Digital only

Radio/Promotional

• Wish (1992)
• Happiness In Slavery (1992)
• Burn (1994)
• Hurt (1994)
• Piggy (1994)
• Starfuckers, Inc. (2000)
• Deep (2001)
• Discipline (2008)
• Burning Bright (Field On Fire) (2016)
• Less Than (2017)
• This Isn't The Place (2017)
• God Break Down The Door (2018)

Members

• Trent Reznor
• Atticus Ross

Live Band Members

• Alessandro Cortini: Keyboards (2004-2008, 2013- ) (Also occasionally handles guitar, bass, backing vocals, programming)
• Robin Finck: Guitar (1994-1996, 1999-2000, 2008- ) (Also occasionally handles backing vocals, keyboards)
• Ilan Rubin: Drums (2009- ) (Also occasionally handles keyboards, cello, guitar, bass, backing vocals)

Former Members

Guitar

• Josh Eustis (2013) (Tension 2013 Tour only; also occasionally handled keyboards, backing vocals, saxophone)
• Kevin McMahon (1996) (Nights Of Nothing Tour only)
• Aaron North (2005-2007) (Also occasionally handled backing vocals)
• Richard Patrick (1989-1993) (Also occasionally handled backing vocals)

Bass

• Josh Eustis (2013) (NIN 2013 Festival Tour only)
• Danny Lohner (1994-2003) (Also occasionally handled guitar, keyboards, backing vocals)
• Justin Meldal-Johnsen (2008-2009) (Also occasionally handled guitar, keyboards, backing vocals)
• Pino Palladino (2013) (Tension 2013 Tour only)
• Jeordie White (2005-2007) (Also occasionally handled guitar, backing vocals)

Keyboards

• Charlie Clouser (1994-2001) (Also played theremin on the Fragility Tour, some drums on the Dissonance Tour)
• David Haymes (1990) (Automatic Tour, Deep Tour, replaced by Mars)
• Lee Mars (1990-1991)
• Nick Rushe (1989) ("Pretty Hate Machine" Promotional Tour only, replaced by Haymes)
• Chris Vrenna (1988) (VIVIsectVI Tour only, replaced by Rushe)
• James Woolley (1991-1994)

Drums

• Alex Carapetis (2005) (With Teeth Fall Arena Tour only, replaced by Freese)
• Jerome Dillon (1999-2005)
• Josh Freese (2005-2008)
• Ron Musarra (1988) (VIVIsectVI Tour only, replaced by Vrenna)
• Chris Vrenna (1989-1990, 1992-1997)
• Jeff Ward (1990-1991)

Backing Vocals

• Lisa Fischer (2013) (Tension 2013 Tour only)
• Sharlotte Gibson (2013) (Tension 2013 Tour only)

Other

• Martin Atkins (1991-1992) (Studio-only drummer; featured in music video for "Head Like A Hole")
• Sean Beavan (1988-1991, 1994) (Backup vocals from mixing console for the Self Destruct and Pretty Hate Machine tours)
• Keith Hillebrandt (1996-2002) (Sound designer; was listed as full band member on the "I'm Afraid Of Americans" remix along with Reznor, Lohner, Clouser and Ogilvie)
• Brian Liesegang (Helped in the studio on Broken; featured in one of the music videos for "Gave Up"; may have replaced Lee Mars for a few dates)
• Dave “Rave” Ogilvie (1997-1999) (Was listed as full band member on the "I'm Afraid Of Americans" remix along with Reznor, Lohner, Clouser and Hillebrandt)
• Gary Talpas (1989) (Supplemental member for a few dates of the "Pretty Hate Machine" Promotional Tour; also the original NIN art director)

Prospective Members

• Elijah Blue Allman (Auditioned for guitarist in 1993)[1]
• Eric Avery (2013) (Announced as bassist but didn't tour, replaced by Eustis and Palladino)
• Adrian Belew (2013) (Announced as guitarist but didn't tour, replaced by Finck)
• Wes Borland (Auditioned for guitarist in 2004)[2]
• Ralf Dietel (2005) (Announced as guitarist but didn't tour, replaced by North)
• Rich Fownes (2008) (Announced as bassist but didn't tour, replaced by Meldal-Johnsen)
• Eshan Khadaroo (Auditioned for drummer in 1999)[3]
• Ben Weinman (Auditioned for guitarist in 2005)[4]

Martin Atkins was considered as the drummer for the Lollapalooza Tour in 1991.[5] Bon Harris of Nitzer Ebb stated in an Instagram message with a fan that he was considered as a live keyboard player for NIN, and it is assumed that this was during the years when Nitzer Ebb was inactive (1995-2006).

See also

• Tours
• Glossary
• List of music videos
• List of official remixes
• List of songs covered by NIN
• List of songs covered by other artists
• List of BPM rates
• Recurring lyrics
• Samples in NIN songs
• NIN in popular culture
• NIN songs never played live
• Unreleased projects
• nin.com history
• Related bands and artists
• Hoaxes and jokes
• Playlists
• Podcasts
• Brand collaborations

External Links

• Official website
• Official Apple Music profile
• Official Discord profile
• Official Facebook profile
• Official Flickr profile
• Official Instagram profile
• Official MySpace profile
• Official SoundCloud profile
• Official Spotify profile
• Official TikTok profile
• Official Tumblr profile
• Official Twitter profile
• Official Bluesky profile
• Official Threads profile
• Official Vimeo profile
• Official YouTube profile