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To say that Marilyn Manson is unique might be one of the biggest understatements ever. Manson has always been a provocateur that’s raised a lot of eyebrows, especially from parents, all while collecting a massive following around the world.

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Well before he was Marilyn Manson, he was simply known as Brian Warner, and was born on January 5, 1969 in the town of Canton, Ohio. While growing up, Manson had been sent to a Christian school, which he really wasn’t fond of. Wanting to break away from the life that he was living in, he would come up with the Manson persona while he was in college.

Before becoming famous, Manson actually had aspirations of becoming a journalist. It was then that he came up with the name Marilyn Manson which was created out of both Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson. The two didn’t really have anything in common, but it would end up being the perfect name for such a provocative singer.

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“The first article I ever did was about Marilyn Manson, which I wrote as myself as Brian Warner, and that was in part why I had to have a pseudonym, a stage name,” he said. “I was put in a situation where I was suddenly stuck with…where I had created a Frankenstein’s monster. There was Marilyn Manson, but there was no music yet. I created a fake world maybe because I didn’t like the one I was living in. But that’s what made me make music. I had to fill the gaps I created.”

With that, Manson would team up with Daisy Berkowitz to form a band called Marilyn Manson & The Spooky Kids (though the Spooky Kids part would later be dropped). After picking up a couple more members, Manson was on his way to stardom. It was when Nine Inch Nails singer Trent Reznor discovered the band that they’d have their first album, releasing “Portrait of an American Family” in 1994.

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In terms of mainstream success, Manson got his first taste of it with the cover of the song “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)”. Manson would then follow up the hit single with songs throughout the 1990s such as “The Beautiful People”, “The Dope Show” and “Personal Jesus”. At the height of his fame, Manson would even get involved in acting, appearing in films like “Lost Highway” and “Jawbreaker”.

Manson became a focal point of controversy in 1999 after the April shootings of Columbine High School in Colorado. Many parents had said that music like Manson’s was to blame for the shooting, which many others felt to be an unfair accusation. Manson has said that his music wasn’t the cause for the shootings, but that the accusations alone were harmful to his career.

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“If (the shooters) had just bought my records, they would be better off,” Manson said after it was found that the perpetrators didn’t own his music. “Certain people blame me for the shootings at schools…But honestly, the Columbine era destroyed my entire career at the time.” He added that “It’s shocking to me that it’s easier to buy a gun at Wal-Mart than it is to buy my record. And it’s entertainment, it’s music, but that doesn’t mean it has no value.”

Manson would rebound from this time period to continue his career as one of the most provocative names in rock music. He had reached the top of the charts with his 1998 album “Mechanical Animals”, and followed it up with “Holy Wood” in 2000 that many consider to be his greatest album to date. Though it wouldn’t have the sales or chart performance that “Mechanical Animals” did, it was still a resounding success.

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Manson got back on the top of the charts in 2003 thanks to his album “The Golden Age of Grotesque” which reached number one in five different countries. The albums that would follow included “Eat Me, Drink me”, “The High End of Low” and “Born Villain”. Manson embraced his persona through the years, and it would come through in his music as his style never wavered.

In 2017, Manson would celebrate his 10th studio album release when he came out with “Heaven Upside Down”. The album would reach the top 10 of the Billboard 200, showing that Manson still has a large following. It was another album for conservative parents to instantly want to turn off, thanks to tracks like “We Know Where You F***ing Live”. Even as he approaches his 50s, Manson still knows how to push buttons and tow the line, showing that he’s likely to never change. For his fans, that’s a good thing.

Just to prove that, Manson has talked about how he wants his life to end, even. “I said if I ever die and someone says it’s a suicide and there’s not a lot of other people dead around me, then they’re lying,” he said. “So, I put it in my will that I want to be loaded with explosives, that way if anyone attends my funeral, they’ll blow up.”