Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, songwriter, producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist best known as the founder and creative force behind Nine Inch Nails. Through the project, Reznor helped bring industrial rock from underground clubs into the mainstream, while his later work with composer Atticus Ross established him as a major figure in contemporary film and television scoring.
Raised in Mercer, Pennsylvania, Reznor studied piano from an early age and later played saxophone and tuba. He attended Allegheny College, where he studied music and computer engineering, but left to pursue a career in music. After moving to Cleveland, Ohio, he performed with several local groups, including the Innocent, Exotic Birds, Slam Bamboo, and Lucky Pierre. He also worked at a recording studio, where he learned engineering and programming while developing his own compositions.
Reznor began recording as Nine Inch Nails in 1988, initially playing and programming nearly every instrument himself. The project's debut album, Pretty Hate Machine, appeared in 1989 and combined synthesizers, drum machines, abrasive guitars, and confessional songwriting. Tracks such as "Down in It," "Head Like a Hole," and "Sin" helped establish Nine Inch Nails as a distinctive force in alternative music. Reznor's decision to place the project on bills with rock and alternative acts outside the industrial scene broadened its audience, and the band became a major attraction on the first Lollapalooza tour in 1991.
The EP Broken and the album The Downward Spiral transformed Nine Inch Nails into an international success. Released in 1994, The Downward Spiral presented a dark, tightly constructed study of alienation, obsession, and self-destruction, driven by Reznor's layered studio production and increasingly forceful vocal performances. Its songs "March of the Pigs," "Closer," and "Hurt" became central to the band's identity. Reznor also produced Marilyn Manson's Antichrist Superstar and founded the Nothing Records label, which released work by artists connected to the industrial and alternative scenes.
Nine Inch Nails returned in 1999 with The Fragile, an expansive double album that balanced heavy electronic and rock textures with long instrumental passages. Subsequent releases included With Teeth, Year Zero, Ghosts I-IV, The Slip, and Hesitation Marks. Reznor increasingly used digital distribution and unconventional release strategies, making Nine Inch Nails an influential example of how established artists could operate outside traditional record-industry models. In 2016, Atticus Ross became the project's only official member besides Reznor.
Reznor's collaboration with Ross also reshaped his career. Their score for David Fincher's The Social Network won the Academy Award for Best Original Score in 2011. They later worked on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl, Patriots Day, Watchmen, Soul, Mank, Bones and All, and Challengers. Their soundtracks typically combine processed piano, synthesizers, electronics, and restrained orchestral writing, creating music that functions as atmosphere as much as melody. The pair also worked together in How to Destroy Angels, a project featuring vocalist Mariqueen Maandig.
Reznor has remained active with Nine Inch Nails while continuing to compose, produce, and contribute to film projects. In 2025, Nine Inch Nails was credited with the music for Tron: Ares, marking a notable convergence of Reznor's work in industrial rock and cinema. His career is defined by a sustained interest in technology, studio experimentation, emotional intensity, and the use of sound to create immersive environments.