Shirley Manson

Shirley Ann Manson (born 26 August 1966) is a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. She is best known as the lead singer of the alternative rock band Garbage. Manson gained media attention for her forthright style, rebellious attitude, and distinctive voice. For the majority of her career, Manson commuted between her home city of Edinburgh and the U.S. to record with Garbage, which originally formed in Madison, Wisconsin; she now lives and works primarily in Los Angeles, while maintaining a second home in Edinburgh.

Manson's musical career began in her teens when she was approached to perform backing vocals and keyboards for the band Goodbye Mr Mackenzie. She developed a formidable stage presence, and was later approached by the band's record label with the idea of launching her as a solo artist. She recorded an album with her band under the name Angelfish. After seeing Manson in an Angelfish music video broadcast only once on MTV's 120 Minutes, Garbage invited her to audition, and she eventually joined the band. In 1995, Garbage released their self-titled debut album, a critical and commercial success. The band have released six studio albums, including the multiple Grammy Award-nominated Version 2.0 and a greatest hits album. Garbage have toured worldwide and sold over 17 million records as of 2017.

In 2006, Manson began to write and record solo material after Garbage went on hiatus. In 2008, she played a liquid metal T-1001 Terminator named Catherine Weaver in the second season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. She returned to the recording studio in 2010 to write and produce material for Garbage's fifth studio album, Not Your Kind of People, released in 2012. The band followed up with their sixth album, Strange Little Birds, in 2016.