Nine Inch Nails

Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. The band released two influential albums during the 1990s—The Downward Spiral (1994) and The Fragile (1999)—and has record sales exceeding 20 million copies worldwide, with 10 million sales certified in the United States alone. Despite its success, the band has had several feuds with the corporate side of the recording industry. The first was its notable conflict with TVT Records regarding the band's first album, Pretty Hate Machine, which led Reznor to record his follow-up album in secrecy to avoid the label's influence. Nine Inch Nails signed to Interscope Records afterward, but after the release of the band's fifth studio album Year Zero in 2007, Reznor announced that Nine Inch Nails would release future material independently. The band signed with Columbia Records for the release of its eighth album Hesitation Marks (2013). Two EPs: Not the Actual Events (2016) and Add Violence (2017) were released independently under The Null Corporation. As the band's founder and primary producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor has been considered the only constant member and creative force within the group through much of its history. However, this changed in 2016 when English musician Atticus Ross was introduced as a permanent member of Nine Inch Nails, alongside the announcement of the Not the Actual Events EP. Furthermore, Reznor typically assembles a live band to perform with him onstage. These touring bands comprise a revolving lineup, and often rearrange songs to fit a live settin