Garbage

Garbage is an American rock band formed in 1993 in Madison, Wisconsin. The band’s lineup—consisting of Scottish singer Shirley Manson (vocals) and American musicians Duke Erikson (guitar, bass, keyboards), Steve Marker (guitar, keyboards), and Butch Vig (drums, production)—has remained unchanged since its inception. All four members are involved in the songwriting and production process. Garbage has sold over 17 million albums worldwide.

The band’s eponymous debut album was critically acclaimed upon its release, selling over four million copies and achieving double platinum certification in the United Kingdom, United States and in Australia. It was accompanied by a string of increasingly successful singles from 1995 to 1996, including “Stupid Girl” and “Only Happy When It Rains”. Follow-up Version 2.0, released in 1998 after a year in production, was equally successful, topping the UK Albums Chart and receiving two Grammy Award nominations. Garbage followed this by performing and co-producing the theme song to the nineteenth James Bond film The World Is Not Enough (1999).

Garbage’s third album Beautiful Garbage was also critically acclaimed, but failed to match the commercial success of its predecessors. Garbage quietly disbanded amidst the troubled production of their fourth album Bleed Like Me, but regrouped to complete the album, which was released in 2005 and peaked at a career-high number four in the U.S. The band cut short their Bleed Like Me concert tour and announced an indefinite hiatus, emphasizing that they had not broken up but rather wished to pursue separate interests. The hiatus was briefly interrupted in 2007, when the band recorded new tracks for their greatest hits album Absolute Garbage. The band reunited in 2011, and self-released their 2012 album Not Your Kind of People on their own label Stunvolume to positive reviews. Their next album, Strange Little Birds, followed in 2016. Their seventh studio album, No Gods No Masters, was released in 2021.

Genres: International Rock, Alternative Rock, Industrial Rock