Shirley Manson

2.1. Birth and family

Shirley Ann Manson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on August 26, 1966. Her father, John Mitchell Manson, was a university lecturer and a descendant of the fishing community in Northmavine. Her mother, Muriel Flora (née MacKay), was a big band singer who had been adopted by a Lothian-based family and took on the surname MacDonald. Manson was named after an aunt, who herself was named after Charlotte Brontë's novel Shirley. She grew up with two sisters: Lindy-Jayne, who is two years older, and Sarah, who is two years younger. The family resided in an old Victorian three-story house in the Comely Bank and Stockbridge areas of Edinburgh.

2.2. Childhood and education

Manson's childhood education was influenced by the Church of Scotland until the age of 12, with her father serving as her Sunday school teacher. Although she did not consider herself an artist until her forties, nor a musician, her first musical experiences trace back to her childhood, where she received education in various instruments. Her first public performance occurred in 1970, at the age of four, when she sang "Never Smile at a Crocodile" with her older sister in an amateur show at the local Church Hill Theatre.

Enrolled at Flora Stevenson Primary School, she received instruction in recorder, clarinet, and fiddle. At age seven, she began learning ballet and piano through extramural classes and joined a choir. During this period, Manson was also a member of Girlguiding UK, participating as a Brownie and a Girl Guide. She later attended the City of Edinburgh Music School, which is the music department of Broughton High School. Around the age of nine, Manson joined the school orchestra. While at Broughton, she became an active member of its drama group, performing in amateur dramatic and musical productions such as The American Dream and The Wizard of Oz. She also sang with the Waverley Singers, a local girl choir. In 1981, an Edinburgh Festival Fringe production of Maurice the Minotaur, in which Manson played a prophet, earned a Fringe First award from The Scotsman newspaper.

2.3. Early experiences and challenges

While Manson enjoyed primary school, her first year of secondary school was marked by bullying, which led to her suffering from depression and body dysmorphic disorder. During this period, she engaged in self-injury, carrying sharp objects in her boot laces and cutting herself when experiencing low self-esteem, stress, or anxiety. The bullying ceased when Manson began associating with a rebellious group, leading to her own rebellious phase. She was absent for most of her final year at school and engaged in activities such as smoking cannabis, sniffing glue, drinking alcohol, and shoplifting. On one occasion, she even broke into Edinburgh Zoo.

Despite her teenage ambitions to become an actress, she was rejected by the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Her first job was volunteer work in a local hospital's cafeteria, followed by a breakfast waitress position at a hotel. She then spent five years as a shop assistant for Miss Selfridge, initially at the makeup counters but later moved to stockrooms due to her attitude toward customers. Manson became well-known within Edinburgh's clubbing scene, using free samples from Miss Selfridge to style hair for local bands. She also briefly modelled clothing for Jackie magazine.

3.1. Early work and bands (1987-1994)

Manson's initial musical experiences included brief stints singing with local Edinburgh acts The Wild Indians and performing backing vocals with Autumn 1904. While performing with her group, Manson was invited by Martin Metcalfe, the lead singer of Goodbye Mr Mackenzie, to join his band. Although she initially had a relationship with Metcalfe, she continued to work with the band after their split, becoming a prominent member who played keyboards, provided backing vocals, and became involved in the band's business affairs.

Manson's first release with Goodbye Mr Mackenzie was a YTS release of "Death of a Salesman" in 1984. The group signed a major-label record deal with Capitol Records in 1987, releasing their first album, Good Deeds and Dirty Rags, and their only UK top 40 entry, "The Rattler". In 1990, their contract was transferred to Parlophone, another EMI label. However, after two singles failed to chart, Parlophone declined to release the group's second album, Hammer and Tongs.

Gary Kurfirst, who managed Talking Heads and Debbie Harry, acquired Goodbye Mr Mackenzie's contract and released their second album through his own label, Radioactive Records, a subsidiary of MCA Records. Following another unsuccessful single, the group was persuaded by their management to leave Radioactive. Goodbye Mr Mackenzie continued to write material, and Manson was given the opportunity to record lead vocals on several tracks intended for the band's third album. Although MCA was not interested in further commitments to Goodbye Mr Mackenzie, the label expressed interest in recording an album with Manson. After hearing several demos, Kurfirst signed Manson to Radioactive as a solo artist, with the remaining members of Goodbye Mr Mackenzie performing as her backing band to bypass the band's existing deal with MCA. Manson's contract required her to deliver at least one album and, at Radioactive's sole discretion, up to six additional albums.

Recording under the name Angelfish, Manson and the group recorded the tracks for the Angelfish album in Connecticut with Talking Heads' Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth. This included newly written material and a previously released Goodbye Mr Mackenzie b-side. The lead track, "Suffocate Me", was sent to college radio and received positive reception. The Angelfish album and its second single, "Heartbreak to Hate", followed in 1994. Angelfish toured extensively in Belgium, Canada, France, and the U.S., co-supporting Live on a North American tour alongside Vic Chestnutt. The music video for "Suffocate Me" was aired once on MTV's 120 Minutes. It was during this broadcast that producer and musician Steve Marker saw Manson and believed she would be an excellent singer for his new band, Garbage, which also featured producers Duke Erikson and Butch Vig.

3.2. Garbage (1995-2005; 2010-present)

Butch Vig initially invited Manson to Smart Studios to sing on a couple of tracks. Her first audition was unsuccessful, and she returned to Angelfish. Manson later admitted feeling intimidated showcasing herself to Vig, who had produced bands she admired such as Nirvana, Sonic Youth, and The Smashing Pumpkins. Vig noted that the audition's disorganized nature and communication issues due to the Americans not understanding Manson's Scottish accent contributed to the initial setback. After the Live tour, Angelfish disbanded, and Manson returned to Smart Studios for a second attempt. She began working on the nascent stages of some songs, and the band invited her to become a full-time member to complete the album. She co-wrote and co-produced the entire debut album with the rest of the band. In August 1994, Radioactive Records granted permission for Manson to work with Garbage.

The band's debut album, Garbage, was released in August 1995 and went on to sell over 4 million copies, propelled by successful singles like "Only Happy When It Rains" and "Stupid Girl". Manson quickly became the public face of the band during a tour that lasted until the end of 1996. During this period, Echo & the Bunnymen invited Manson to sing on their 1997 comeback album, Evergreen.

Manson became the primary songwriter for Garbage's second album, Version 2.0, which was released in May 1998 and achieved similar success to their debut. During the two-year tour supporting the record, Manson modeled for Calvin Klein. She lived in hotels throughout the recording periods of both the debut and Version 2.0. The group recorded "the theme song" for the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough, making Manson the third Scotswoman to sing a Bond theme after Lulu and Sheena Easton. In the accompanying music video, she portrayed an android assassin. For the recording of Garbage's third album in 2000, Manson became one of the first high-profile artists to maintain an online blog, while also focusing on improving her guitar playing for the band's upcoming tour. Their third album, Beautiful Garbage, featured Manson's most direct and personal lyrics to date. Although it did not sell as well as its predecessors, Garbage embarked on a successful world tour in support of it. During a concert at the Roskilde Festival, Manson's voice gave out, leading to the discovery of a vocal fold cyst that required corrective surgery.

Manson's lyrics became more overtly political for Garbage's fourth album, Bleed Like Me, released in 2005. Following the unexpected success of the lead single "Why Do You Love Me", the album achieved some of the band's highest chart positions upon its release. Garbage began an extended hiatus in October 2005. During this period, in 2007, Garbage reunited for a brief performance at a benefit show to raise funds for Wally Ingram's medical treatment. They also shared song ideas online, recorded new material, and filmed a music video to promote the band's Absolute Garbage greatest hits compilation. Garbage returned to the studio in 2010 to write and record material for their fifth album, Not Your Kind of People, which was released in May 2012, ending the band's seven-year recording hiatus.

In 2021, Garbage supported Alanis Morissette's 2020 World Tour: Celebrating 25 Years of Jagged Little Pill, which had been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At several performances, Manson wore a variation of "Garden Witch Overalls," popularized by feminist poet Kate Baer. These overalls were paired with knee-high boots and various t-shirts. On March 30, 2021, Garbage released "The Men Who Rule the World", the lead single from their seventh studio album, No Gods No Masters, which was released on June 11, 2021. On April 28, the album's title track, "No Gods No Masters", was released as the second single, followed by "Wolves" on May 19. No Gods No Masters was supported in summer 2021 with an arena concert tour where Garbage was a guest of Alanis Morissette. This tour became the most successful female-fronted tour of the year, selling over 500,000 tickets.

On September 7, 2022, Garbage announced their third greatest hits album, Anthology, released on October 28. The compilation features 35 newly remastered tracks celebrating three decades of their career, including "Witness To Your Love", which was released as a single. In early 2022, Garbage began writing for their upcoming eighth studio album. In October, after fulfilling their touring obligations, Garbage resumed writing for the album. In February 2023, Garbage announced their Summer 2023 co-headline North American tour with Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, featuring Metric as special guests. On March 4, 2024, Garbage announced a UK and European tour, marking their first UK tour in five years. The headlining tour includes dates in Germany, Italy, France, Denmark, and a date at the Wembley Arena in England. Two dates were confirmed in Manson's native Scotland - a main stage slot at the TRNSMT festival in Glasgow, and a date at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh.

3.3. Solo work and collaborations

In March 2006, Manson confirmed she had begun work on a solo album, collaborating with musicians like Paul Buchanan, producer Greg Kurstin, and film composer David Arnold. She stated there was "no timetable" for completing the project. In 2007, Manson also collaborated with Rivers Cuomo of Weezer.

In 2008, Manson presented some of her solo work to Geffen Records, who found it "too noir", leading to a mutual agreement to terminate her contract. Manson later explained that Geffen "wanted me to have international radio hits and 'be the Annie Lennox of my generation.' I kid you not; I am quoting directly." She described her unreleased work as "a quiet, very dark, non-radio-friendly record," adding, "I'm not interested in writing nursery rhymes for the masses."

Manson continued to write material while without a record deal and engaged in discussions with David Byrne and Ray Davies about potential collaborations. In 2009, she posted three demos on her Facebook profile, co-written with Kurstin, titled "In the Snow", "Pretty Horses", and "Lighten Up". "Pretty Horses" was later featured in the pilot episode of the show Conviction. Fourteen additional songs co-written with Kurstin and registered with copyright and performance rights societies included "Don't Want To Pretend", "Don't Want Anyone Hurt", "Gone Upside", "Hot Shit", "Kid Ourselves", "Little Dough", "Pure Genius", "Sweet Old World", "Spooky", "So Shines A Good Deed", "The Desert", "No Regrets", "Stop", and "To Be King".

In 2009, Manson announced a temporary step back from music, citing disillusionment with the music industry's new practices and a newfound excitement in acting. She considered abandoning the music business entirely in 2008, especially after her mother developed dementia and later died, stating, "I didn't want to make music, didn't feel creative. I could barely function." However, she reconsidered later that year after friends asked her to sing David Bowie's "Life on Mars?" at their son's memorial. Manson reflected, "we were all in so much pain, but it meant so much to them that I could sing that song and so much to me that I was able to do something. It made me realise how much music sustains people. I don't know why I'd turned my back on it."

Manson also collaborated with various artists outside her solo project. She recited a verse of a long poem for a Chris Connelly album, co-wrote and recorded a duet with Eric Avery for his solo debut, and recorded with Debbie Harry. Although not recording material with them, Manson performed on-stage with The Pretenders, Iggy Pop, Incubus, and Kings of Leon in Atlantic City. She also performed with Gwen Stefani and twice with No Doubt in Universal City. Manson also appeared in an uncredited role as a dominatrix in the music video for She Wants Revenge's single "These Things". Most recently, Manson provided vocals on "The Hunger", a track written by Serj Tankian for the rock musical Prometheus Bound.

In January 2012, Manson confirmed that work on her solo album had been canceled, stating the album "[is] dead and buried. We had the funeral. It was sad and I cried a lot but it made such a beautiful corpse that we had an open casket."

4.1. Acting career

Manson was cast in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles in May 2008, following an invitation from series creator Josh Friedman and a rigorous audition process where she competed against other actresses, including Julie Ann Emery. She debuted in the season two premiere episode, "Samson and Delilah", as Catherine Weaver, the CEO of a technology company called ZeiraCorp. By the episode's conclusion, Weaver is revealed to be a liquid-metal T-1001 Terminator. Manson also performed and co-arranged a rock and blues version of the gospel song "Samson and Delilah" for the episode's score. She also played the human Weaver in archive footage viewed by the T-1001 in the episode "The Tower Is Tall, But the Fall Is Short".

In 2009, Manson made her first foray into the video game industry as an avatar of herself for the Guitar Hero franchise. In the fifth game in the series, Guitar Hero 5, Manson is an unlockable character, and the game also features a licensed Garbage track.

The following year, Manson was among the final guests to appear on the cult US children's show Pancake Mountain. She was featured in a segment titled "Around the World with Shirley Manson," where she discussed music from different countries. She filmed five such segments, but none aired before creator Scott Stuckey and producer J. J. Abrams canceled the show. One segment, focusing on Germany, was eventually released and included an original theme song sung by Manson and written by Stuckey.

In 2019, Manson traveled to Santiago, Chile, to participate in the production of Peace Peace Now Now, a documentary that tells "stories of women who challenged armed conflicts around the world." The first season of the documentary premiered on November 23, 2022, on Star+.

4.2. Podcast hosting

From 2019 to 2021, Manson hosted the music podcast The Jump with Shirley Manson, co-produced by Mailchimp Presents and Little Everywhere, with executive producers Dann Gallucci, Jane Marie, and Hrishikesh Hirway. In each episode, Manson interviewed a guest musician about a defining song that represented a breakthrough in the artist's career, exploring "the moments in an artist's career where they decide to take a leap into something new."

Three seasons of the podcast were produced, totaling 28 episodes. Manson has expressed uncertainty about whether the show will be renewed for a fourth season. She credits the show with fostering her personal growth as an artist and an interviewer. Some episodes of the podcast also directly inspired the writing and production of songs for Garbage's seventh studio album, No Gods No Masters.

4.3. Charity work and advocacy

Manson has actively leveraged Garbage's platform and her own public profile to raise awareness and secure funds for various charity causes. She commissioned a Garbage-branded lipgloss for online sale, with all proceeds split between Grampian Children's Cancer Research and cancer treatment institutions at Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital in Scotland and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York.

In 2001, Manson became an ambassador for the M•A•C AIDS Fund, fronting their fourth two-year charity lipstick marketing campaign alongside Elton John and Mary J. Blige. This initiative began with the launch of the VIVAMAC IV lipstick in March 2002, with all sales proceeds dedicated to funding AIDS charities and initiatives. During her tours, Manson visited several AIDS charities in Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Toronto, New York, San Francisco, and Madison, making donations totaling over 300.00 K USD on behalf of the M•A•C AIDS Fund.

In 2003, the M•A•C AIDS Fund partnered with the Elton John AIDS Foundation to create the White Bedroom campaign. Both Elton John and Manson recorded PSAs promoting condom use and providing facts on AIDS. By 2007, the combined six VIVAMAC campaigns had raised over 100.00 M USD. As a former ambassador, Manson accepted a cheque for 51.00 K GBP on behalf of HIV charity Waverley Care from the M•A•C AIDS Fund on April 10, 2008, at Harvey Nichols Edinburgh store. Manson had become a patron of Waverley Care in October 2002 and previously hosted a fund raiser auction in January 2004, which raised 45.00 K GBP for the charity. A Fender guitar owned by Manson fetched 1.05 K GBP, while other auctioned items included contributions sourced by Manson herself from Elton John and Kylie Minogue.

Manson has also adopted a rescue dog, a terrier-mix named Veela, a name inspired by the veelas from the Harry Potter books.

In 2008, Manson became involved with The Pablove Foundation, a charity founded by Dangerbird Records head Jeff Castelaz, whose son Pablo succumbed to cancer the following year. Castelaz, whose family Manson had befriended in the 1990s, had asked Manson to sing "Life on Mars?" at their son's memorial. Funds raised for The Pablove Foundation support pediatric cancer research and educational and quality of life programming for families dealing with childhood cancer. Manson reformed Garbage to contribute an exclusive track, "Witness to Your Love", to a charity album for the Foundation. She also signed a Pablove poster for auction on eBay, hosted a fundraiser headlined by the Silversun Pickups, and performed acoustically on-stage at a second fundraiser with Butch Vig and Laura Jane Grace (for a rendition of "Witness...") and with Greg Kurstin (for a cover of Pablo's favorite song, David Bowie's "Life on Mars?").

In 2010, Shirley Manson donated two hand-decorated T-shirts to Binki Shapiro's (of the band Little Joy) online charity auction "Crafts for a Cause" to raise money for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The two T-shirts raised a total of 1.52 K USD, which was donated to the Artists for Peace and Justice organization. In January 2015, Manson headlined Pablove 6, the sixth-annual fundraiser for the Pablove Foundation. She made a special appearance with Chicago-based David Bowie tribute band Sons of the Silent Age, featuring Matt Walker and Chris Connelly.

5.1. Vocal style and musical characteristics

Manson, as part of Garbage, contributes to an alternative musical style that fuses various genres, including electronic rock, industrial rock, punk, grunge, trip hop, and shoegaze. Although trained as a soprano while singing in a choir as a child, Manson never identified as one, stating, "I don't think I'm a soprano. I don't know what the hell I am." Critics generally agree she possesses a contralto vocal range, noted for its distinctive qualities and emotive delivery.

Steve Marker, a member of Garbage, described Manson's voice as having "some of the same depth" as artists like Patti Smith and Chrissie Hynde, emphasizing their desire for a female vocalist without a "high, chirpy, quality." Butch Vig, another band member, added, "We wanted someone who could sing in an understated way... Shirley is just the opposite. By using understatement, she can sound even more subversive."

Elysa Gardner of the Los Angeles Times noted that "one of Garbage's most compelling features is a force of nature: Manson's vocals, which can convey a multitude of emotions without ever coming across as melodramatic." Reviewing a live Garbage performance, Jon Pareles of The New York Times commented, "Temptress, lover, sufferer, scrapper - those have been Ms. Manson's personae since Garbage started in 1995. In other eras she might have been a pop torch singer, a soul belter or a new-wave frontwoman: a Shirley Bassey, a Dusty Springfield, or a Chrissie Hynde. There's a little of each of them in her voice," also stating, "In the course of each song she let her voice rise in anger, contempt or passion." Green Left Weekly, in a review of Garbage, remarked that Manson, as vocalist and guitarist, "has a powerful voice, which soars and dips like a bird. It can plead or demand. It can sound dreamy or psychotic." Catherine Gee of The Daily Telegraph, reviewing a 2012 live Garbage performance, noted that Manson "remains a striking performer whose distinctive contralto snarl can still raise the hairs on the back of your neck." While Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described Manson's voice as "thin and airy" in a review of Garbage, Mike Diver of the BBC stated Manson possessed "a snarl in her voice but [was] equally capable of a purr to melt away any resistance," adding that "even at her most vulnerable, Manson maintains her controlling condition."

5.2. Influences and impact

Manson's earliest musical memories are of her mother, who sang with a big band. As she grew up, Manson was exposed to classic jazz records and the work of artists such as Nina Simone, Cher, Peggy Lee, and Ella Fitzgerald. One of her earliest musical memories is of ABBA winning the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, and she became a fan of the group, particularly drawn to Anni-Frid Lyngstad, whom she felt embodied 'the outsider' and whose stage presence left a strong impression. At 14, she became a fan of Siouxsie and the Banshees' albums The Scream and Kaleidoscope, teaching herself to sing by listening to them. She later stated that "many of the songs of those two albums were massive loves of my life." Vocalist Siouxsie Sioux embodied how Manson aspired to be as a teen and "has remained a touchstone for me throughout my career and is still inspiring to me."

At nineteen, Manson discovered Patti Smith, specifically her Horses album, which made a "strong impact" on her. Manson was inspired to learn guitar by Chrissie Hynde, who is an admirer of Manson, while also appreciating the style of Toyah Willcox and Debbie Harry, whose 2006 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction speech was delivered by Manson. The majority of Manson's influences were female musicians; however, she also notes David Bowie as an inspiring male musician. Manson also grew up listening to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Frank Sinatra, The Clash, The Sugarcubes, Cocteau Twins, Iggy and the Stooges, Echo & the Bunnymen, and The Velvet Underground. For acting, she cites actress Glenn Close and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as influences for her Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles performance.

Manson's lyrics often deal with darker themes, frequently in a mocking manner. She attributes this to her Scottish psyche, which leans towards a preference for depressing themes, and the fact that she always felt like an outsider, even within Garbage - "I'm the odd one out by default. I'm the only girl, I'm younger than they are, they've all known each other for 40 years, or something crazy like that. So I always felt, like, off the centre of things."

Manson has been credited with inspiring numerous later female artists, including Amy Lee, Florence Welch, Taylor Momsen, Liz Anjos of RAC and The Pragmatic, Screaming Females' Marissa Paternoster, Dee Dee Penny of Dum Dum Girls, Skylar Grey, Paramore's Hayley Williams, Ritzy Bryan (lead singer and guitarist of The Joy Formidable), Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Potty Mouth's Ally Einbinder, Billie Eilish, Peaches, Radiator Hospital's Cynthia Schemmer, The Great Wilderness' Paola Rogue, Marina and the Diamonds, and Lana Del Rey. Manson is also considered a style icon, influencing various other female artists, and inspiring fashion designers and stylists.

5.3. Style icon status

Shirley Manson's distinctive look and fearless approach to fashion have cemented her status as a style icon. Her influence extends to various other female artists, who have cited her as an inspiration for their own aesthetics. Beyond musicians, Manson has also inspired fashion designers and stylists, contributing to her broader impact on fashion trends and visual culture. Her bold and individualistic style has been a consistent element of her public persona, further enhancing her iconic status.

6.1. Family and marriage

Manson has been married twice. Her first marriage was to Scottish artist Eddie Farrell, lasting from 1996 to 2003. In 2008, Manson became engaged to record producer and Garbage sound engineer Billy Bush. They were married at a Los Angeles courthouse in May 2010. Manson and Bush continue to reside in Los Angeles, while Manson also maintains a second home in the Edinburgh suburb of Joppa.

6.2. Beliefs and values

Manson has distanced herself from organized religion but has maintained a long-standing interest in spirituality. She recalled being "very besotted with the church" as a young child, loving its theatricality and becoming deeply involved in the stories taught. However, around age 12, she had an argument with her father at the dinner table, declaring, "Religion's a sham and I'm not going to church anymore, it's just bullshit." She stopped attending church but continued to engage in theological debates with her father every Sunday. She became disenchanted with organized religion, complaining that she has "brushed up against too many examples of hypocritical spiritualists," despite her continued interest in spirituality.

Manson identifies as a feminist and has been widely hailed as a feminist icon. She actively advocates for social causes, reflecting her strong commitment to social justice and human rights.

7.1. Mental health

Manson has publicly shared her struggles with mental health conditions, including body dysmorphic disorder and depression. She noted that these issues were exacerbated by the intense media scrutiny and misogyny she encountered during Garbage's breakthrough years. During the production of Garbage's third album, Beautiful Garbage, while also going through a divorce, Manson sought psychiatric help on the advice of her trainer. She admitted to "crying literally for like four hours in the bathtub every night" during this period. She credits the psychiatrist she saw with "saving [her] life," teaching her "how to turn all the noise down and allow a healthier voice to emerge. Start to make sense of the world and start to control how you respond to it."

Manson has stated that she has learned to manage her condition over time, emphasizing, "It's a constant dialogue, and you just learn to be more powerful than that other voice." She also credited a 1999 photoshoot with no makeup for Calvin Klein with significantly helping her confront her self-perception. "If everyone had seen me with no make-up on, there was nothing to hide. And, I like the photograph. I looked... sweet. I actually wrote to Calvin Klein telling him that he'd done something incredible for me," she told Glamour magazine in 2001.

Manson has also spoken openly about her struggles with self-harm. In 2018, she wrote an article for The New York Times titled "The First Time I Cut Myself", detailing her first experience with cutting at age thirteen while in an unhealthy relationship. She indicated that the self-harming behavior lasted until she was fifteen. However, she felt the impulse to cut again during the Version 2.0 tour due to media pressure, an urge she successfully resisted. Manson admitted that she still does not fully understand the reasons behind her self-harming, but speculated that "there was a lot of unexpressed anger, a lot of hormones, and a lot of emotions that I was unable to process as a young person."

Manson has expressed her aversion to cosmetic surgery, stating that it would not solve her body dysmorphia. She told The Herald in 2008, "I know that even if I did get something fixed it is not going to last very long and I am still going to be back to square one, and I'm going to have to face myself in the morning." She added, "I don't want to set an example for the younger generation of women who come up and think they have to fix their faces. I don't want to pass that on to other girls. I don't want to be responsible for that."

7.2. Physical health and injuries

Manson is asthmatic and quit smoking around the age of 25 in the early 1990s. In 1998, she had a benign tumor removed from her breast. She described the surgery as "really botched," leaving her "in a lot of pain," but she continued touring while wearing a sling.

During the Beautiful Garbage tour, Manson began experiencing vocal difficulties, culminating in a complete loss of her voice at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark on June 30, 2002. She recounted to Spin magazine in 2005, "I got on stage and opened my mouth to sing, and about 30 seconds in, there was no voice at all. It was a fucking nightmare." Initially believing it was due to fatigue or stress, she continued touring until Gwen Stefani directed her to a vocal specialist. The specialist diagnosed her with "a large-sized cyst on one of my vocal cords, which was also causing considerable damage to the vocal cord opposite." A specialist warned Manson that the operation could permanently damage her singing ability, so she initially hesitated. She underwent surgery in 2003 after consulting another doctor in New York and recuperated her voice after three weeks of rehabilitation, including a week of total silence. Manson described the experience as "torture," explaining, "speech is my absolute lifeline and I felt like I'd lost my personality, been stripped completely of me... I felt invisible."

On May 14, 2016, at the first date of Garbage's tour promoting Strange Little Birds, Manson fell off the stage into the pit while singing "Special" at KROQ Weenie Roast. She immediately stood up, seemingly unhurt, and continued performing for the rest of the set. However, in November 2022, she revealed that she had injured her right hip in the incident, causing her "so much pain" and necessitating hip replacement surgery, which took place on January 16, 2023, at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

For the majority of her career, Manson commuted between her home city of Edinburgh and the United States to record with Garbage, which was originally formed in Madison, Wisconsin. She now primarily lives and works in Los Angeles, while maintaining a second home in the Edinburgh suburb of Joppa.

8.1. Albums with Goodbye Mr Mackenzie and Angelfish

• Good Deeds and Dirty Rags (1989) (with Goodbye Mr Mackenzie)
• Hammer and Tongs (1991) (with Goodbye Mr Mackenzie)
• Five (1994) (with Goodbye Mr Mackenzie)
• Angelfish (1994) (with Angelfish)

8.2. Garbage studio albums

• Garbage (1995)
• Version 2.0 (1998)
• Beautiful Garbage (2001)
• Bleed Like Me (2005)
• Not Your Kind of People (2012)
• Strange Little Birds (2016)
• No Gods No Masters (2021)

8.3. Solo and collaborative releases

While her solo album was unreleased, Manson contributed to various projects:

• "The Hunger" (2011) (with Serj Tankian for Prometheus Bound)
• "Witness to Your Love" (2008) (with Garbage for The Pablove Foundation charity album)
• Demos with Greg Kurstin (2009): "In the Snow", "Pretty Horses", "Lighten Up"

9.1. Television

9.2. Film

9.3. Video games