Purest Feeling

Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails performing at the Staples Center in November 2013; from left to right: Pino Palladino, Ilan Rubin, Trent Reznor, and Alessandro Cortini
Background information
Origin	Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Genres	Industrial rock alternative rock industrial metal dark ambient synth-pop
Years active	1988–present
Labels	Nothing TVT Columbia The Null Corporation Interscope
Associated acts	David Bowie Exotic Birds How to Destroy Angels Marilyn Manson Queens of the Stone Age Tapeworm
Website	nin.com
Members	Trent Reznor Atticus Ross
Past members	Former members

Nine Inch Nails (abbreviated as NIN and 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 over 20 million copies worldwide, with 10 million sales certified in the United States alone.

Despite this, the band has had several feuds with the corporate side of the recording industry. In 2007, after the release of their fifth studio album Year Zero (2007), these entanglements resulted in Reznor announcing that the band would split from its longtime record label Interscope Records to release future material independently, before signing with Columbia Records for the release of their eighth album Hesitation Marks (2013). Reznor returned to self-releasing material with the second Nine Inch Nails EP, Not the Actual Events (2016).

As the band's main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only constant member of the group, and remains solely responsible for its direction. This changed however in 2016 when Atticus Ross was introduced as a permanent member of Nine Inch Nails alongside the announcement of Not the Actual Events. After recording a new album, Reznor usually assembles a live band to perform onstage with him. The touring band features a revolving lineup that often rearranges songs to fit a live setting. On stage, Nine Inch Nails often employs visual elements to accompany performances, which frequently include light shows.

Nine Inch Nails has been nominated for thirteen Grammy Awards, and won twice for the songs "Wish" and "Happiness in Slavery" in 1992 and 1996, respectively. In 1997, Reznor appeared in Time magazine's list of the year's most influential people, and Spin magazine described him as "the most vital artist in music". In 2004, Rolling Stone placed Nine Inch Nails at 94 on its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time. In 2014, Nine Inch Nails was named as nominees for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, their first year of eligibility. In 2015, they were nominated a second time.