The legendary rock star Marilyn Manson is famous for both his shocker music and his eccentric lifestyle. From cutting himself on stage to being blamed for Columbine massacre, Manson’s life is full of controversies. He has always challenged every boundary whether it’s related to religion, society or authority. He has always been vocal about his views, some of which are misinterpreted by the society. Here we have brought 25 interesting facts together about this controversial personality.

1 The real name of Marilyn Manson is Brian Hugh Warner. His stage name is the combination of two famous American cultural icons, Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson.

Marilyn Manson was born on January 5, 1969, in Canton, Ohio in the US. Upon his birth, he was named Brian Hugh Warner. Later, he became famous by his stage name Marilyn Manson. His stage name is inspired by the name of two opposing American pop cultural icons, the actress and model Marilyn Monroe and the criminal and cult leader Charles Manson.(source)

2 As a child, Marilyn attended Heritage Christian School where they taught students “the kind of music they shouldn’t listen”, and unlikely he picked up Heavy Metal Music.

Marilyn Manson attended Heritage Christian School as a child. He studied there from the first to the tenth grade. In the school, seminars were held where the students were told about the kind of music they shouldn’t listen to. Instead of being repelled, Manson used to buy those music albums immediately. Later, Manson opted for the Heavy Metal music as his career.(1,2)

3 Before becoming a rock star, Manson was pursuing a career in music journalism.

After high school, Manson and his family moved to Fort Lauderdale where he joined a local community college called Broward. There he studied journalism and theater and worked as an entertainment journalist for a local magazine, 25th Parallel. This gave him the chance to interview with many famous musicians. While working as a journalist, he started his own band called Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids.(source)

4 Marilyn Manson band was started in 1989 and they were called Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids. In 1992, the band dropped “the Spooky Kids” part and has been known as “Marilyn Manson” since then.

While studying journalism in college, Brian Warner met Scott Putesky. Scott read some lyrics and poems written by Manson and proposed to form a band together. They were joined by bassist Brian Tutunick. Together, the trio formed the band Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids and then recorded their first demo tape in 1990. Scott Putesky and Brian Tutunick later opted for the stage name Daisy Berkowitz and Olivia Newton Bundy respectively.

By the year 1992, they started gaining popularity due to their highly visual concerts, bizarre costumes, and shock techniques. Later that year, the band shortened its name from Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids to Marilyn Manson.(source)

5 Manson had posed nude for photos before he rose to fame. Those photos were published in the March 1999 issue of a gay magazine, Honcho.

Nude photos of Manson once appeared in the 1999 issue of Honcho magazine. Those photographs had been taken by filmmaker Richard Kern five years before it was published. The magazine claimed the photos to be a birthday tribute to Manson.(1,2)

6 Major US retailers such as Wall Mart, K-Mart, and Target once refused to sell Manson’s 1998 album “Mechanical Animals” as the cover featured Manson’s head on a naked alien’s body.

The controversial cover art of the album Mechanical Animals depicts Marilyn Manson as a naked androgynous alien figure whom he calls Omēga. The body of the alien figure shows breasts, six fingers, and airbrushed genitalia. This cover was considered to be offensive due to which some major retailers in the US like Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and Target refused to stock the album even before its release.

To this day Wal-Mart still refuses to sell this album. After the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, Wal-Mart stopped selling all albums of Manson. Moreover, since then, his name is listed in the official site of Wal-Mart among the other artists whose work will not be sold in their stores.(source)

7 After the 1999 Columbine massacre, it was said that the violent act of shooters was influenced by the music of Marilyn Manson.

On April 20, 1999, shooters Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris massacred at Columbine High School. After the tragedy, students reported that both the shooters were fans of Manson. However, this claim was later proved to be false. Others pointed out that both the shooters were wearing trench coats during the massacre which was believed to be same as Manson’s typical attire. Some interviewers and reporters claimed that the lyrics of Manson’s song and his controversial behavior on stage have a corrupting influence on nation’s youth.

In his defense, Manson claimed in interviews and in Rolling Stones article that he does not promote violence, suicide, hate, and other atrocities which he had been accused of. He also claimed that being blamed for Columbine almost ruined his career.(source)

8 Macaulay Culkin, the famous child star of movie Home Alone, brought Marilyn Manson his first cigarette.

In the movie Party Monster, Marilyn Manson played the role of Christina Superstar. In one of the scene, Manson had to smoke a cigarette. But since the rock star considered cigarettes unhealthy, he had never had one. At that time, Macaulay Culkin, who was playing the lead role in the movie, brought Manson his first pack of cigarettes – Virginia Slims.(1,2)

9 Marilyn Manson got engaged three times with Rose McGowan, Dita Von Teese, and Evan Rachel Wood. However, he married only Dita Von Teese and then divorced her after 2 years.

From February 1998 to January 2001, Manson was engaged to actress Rose McGowan. However, later they ended their engagement citing the reason as lifestyle differences. Then, on 22 March 2004, he proposed Dita Von Teese and married her on 28 November 2005. Nevertheless, this marriage didn’t last too long and they divorced in 2007. In the year 2010, he got engaged to Evan Rachel Wood but broke it off later in the same year.(source)

10 Manson had small roles in a number of movies such as Lost Highway, Porno Star #1, Party Monster, Jaw Breaker, The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things, and the others.

Since his acting debut in 1997 movie Lost Highway, Manson has appeared in many cameos and minor roles in movies like Party Monster, Rise, The Hire and some others.(source)

11 Manson also has appeared in a number of television series such as Eastbound & Down, Sons of Anarchy, Californication, and the others.

Manson appeared as a roller-skating waiter in his favorite show,” Eastbound and Down”. He played Ron Tully in the final season of “Sons of Anarchy”. He appeared as himself in the comedy-drama TV series “Californication”.(source)

12 Johnny Depp and Marilyn Manson are long time friends. They even have matching back tattoos, and they have performed together on multiple occasions.

Marilyn Manson had once claimed in an interview with Rolling Stone that he and Johnny Depp have two matching tattoos as a symbol of their friendship. They both have etched the same phrase “no reason” on their wrists and “Charles Baudelaire, the flower of evil, this giant skeleton thing” on their backs.(source)

13 In 1998, Marilyn Manson released his autobiography, The Long Hard Road Out of Hell, in which he mentioned his grandfather’s sexual fetishes.

In 1998, Marilyn Manson released his autobiography, The Long Hard Road Out of Hell, in which he mentioned his grandfather’s sexual fetishes, including bestiality and sadomasochism in detail. He has also claimed that this was the influence behind the formation of Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids and the recording of Antichrist Superstar. In his autobiography, he also mentions that there are more than 450 scars on his body. The scars are due to the self-inflicted cut during stage shows.(source)