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Shirley Manson

Shirley Manson
Shirley Ann Manson (b. August 26, 1966 in Edinburgh, United Kingdom) is a Scottish musician, the lead vocalist of the band Garbage.

Manson is the second of three daughters; her father is a geneticist and her mother is a former singer. She started learning the piano aged seven, later attending the City of Edinburgh Music School where she also joined the school's theatre group. At school, she was regularly bullied, and inflicted self harm.

She briefly worked as a shop assistant, but her first musical job was playing keyboards and singing backing vocals in Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie, where she remained for a decade until the band split up in 1992. She then joined several bands — Angelfish, August 1984 and Wild Indians — before being spotted by the members of Garbage and asked to front the band in 1994.

Manson was briefly a model for Calvin Klein's celebrity musician campaign, which also featured Melissa Auf der Maur and Kim Gordon.

On 7 September 1996 Manson married the sculptor Eddie Farrell . They separated in 2003 and are now divorced. In 2005, she revealed that she has the condition body dysmorphia, which may be the root of the depression which she has mentioned previously. She also has asthma. She actively participates in various AIDS charities: one notable occurrence was her appearance alongside Elton John and Mary J. Blige in the MAC Cosmetics' Viva Glam campaign.

Manson includes Siouxsie and the Banshees and Frank Sinatra amongst her musical idols, and her orange Fender Stratocaster is named 'Rita'.

She spends much of her time at the band's base in Wisconsin, although she does own a house in her native Edinburgh.

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Last updated: 05-07-2005 10:31:39
Last updated: 05-13-2005 07:56:04