For a long time, Nine Inch Nails was officially a one-man operation. Since 2016, it has been a two-man job, with founder and chief ringleader Trent Reznor joined on his industrial-rock odyssey by British musician and producer Atticus Ross. In a nod to the sway he holds over all things Nine Inch Nails, Reznor once said: “This is not a band, and it’s not a democracy.”
But that doesn’t mean the Cleveland native has not stopped to give his collaborators and bandmates their due now and again. When Nine Inch Nails were inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame during Covid and therefore denied the opportunity of a ceremony, Reznor lamented that he was missing out on catching up with some of those hardy souls who’d done a Tour Of Duty in NiN in the flesh.
“This has been far from a singular endeavour,” he said in his speech, before going on to namecheck a number of past and present players. “I love these guys and they have all been an integral and a central part of why we’re here,” he said of those who were being inducted as part of Nine Inch Nails alongside him: Ross as well as Robin Finck, Alessandro Cortini, Ilan Rubin, Danny Logner and Chris Vrenna.
“From my perspective I felt like it was the right thing to do,” he said of their induction a few weeks later. “I think, lazily, the approach was ‘OK, we’re just going to indict you’. I thought I’d push back and say, ‘Well, you need to at the very least induct Atticus, and you should induct these guys… I felt strongly that it’s a shared recognition.”
The current line-up, expected to feature Finck, Cortini and Rubin alongside Reznor and Ross, will visit British shores next month for their first tour since 2022. But we’re here to load you up with all the historical Nine Inch Nailer intel you could possibly want when it comes to who’s stood on that stage with Reznor. Welcome to your one and only NiN cast list, from the start right up to the here and now...
Trent Reznor puts together the band that will see him through the early days and the tour to support Pretty Hate Machine
Chris Vrenna
NiN embarked on their first tour in 1988 in support of industrial-punk trailblazers Skinny Puppy as a trio. Vrenna, later a member of Marilyn Manson’s band, was NiN’s first keyboardist but a few months on became drummer instead.
Ron Musarra
That’s because original drummer Musarra departed after the Skinny Puppy tour. He did get a thank you in the liner notes for their 1989 debut Pretty Hate Machine, though. He currently works as a sound engineer for Mastodon.
Richard Patrick
The line-up expanded with the addition of Patrick, a pillar of their live formation until he fell out with Reznor over money and left to concentrate on his own band Filter.
Gary Talpas
The band went through a few keyboardists at this stage. First up was Talpas, an art director who helped design NiN’s famous logo.
Nick Rushe
Then came a short stint on the keys from Nick Rushe, who also played guitar during live performances of Head Like A Hole in 1989.
David Haymes
He didn’t last long, though, replaced by David Haymes for the Automatic Tour supporting The Jesus And Mary Chain and a jaunt on the road with Peter Murphy. Haymes was reportedly nicknamed “Tailpipe” by his bandmates, because he smelled bad. Reznor soon sacked him.
Lee Mars
Next to have a go on keyboards was Lee Mars, who joined NiN on the road for the Hate and Sin tours.
James Woolley
Lo and behold, they managed to find a keyboardist who could stay in the group longer than two gigs with producer Woolley, who stuck around until 1994. After his departure, he went on to work with Rob Halford and had a job on The Simpsons doing sound design.
Jeff Ward
An opening behind the drumkit after Vrenna fell out with Reznor (he would return in 1992) saw experienced sticksman and former Ministry and Pigface member Jeff Ward join the group. He died in 1993 from suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning, with the group putting a dedication to him on The Downward Spiral.
A classic NiN line-up comes together as The Downward Spiral blows up big…
Robin Finck
Guitarist Finck is a long-standing comrade for Reznor, a NiN mainstay (well, apart from the two occasions that he left to go and join Guns N’Roses for a bit then came back).
Danny Lohner
Just as crucial in this era is the contribution of bassist and future A Perfect Circle co-founder Lohner. He has songwriting credits on NiN bangers The Perfect Drug and Somewhat Damaged.
Charlie Clouser
1994 also saw the arrival of multi-instrumentalist Clouser, who had originally been hired by Reznor as a studio engineer. Clouser, Lohner, Patrick and Vrenna, incidentally, all joined NiN onstage for six songs during a Cleveland stop-off on their 2022 US tour.
Kevin McMahon
Prick and Lucky Pierre veteran McMahon filled in for Finck when the guitarist departed in 1996 to work on the Cirque du Soleil.
A somewhat settled line-up for a troubled and Fragile time…
Jerome Dillon
Dillon won out in the auditions to replace Vrenna on drums and joined the band in time to play on the tour to accompany 1999’s The Fragile. He was present right the way through to the Live: With_Teeth tour in 2005 when health issues meant he had to step down. Expecting to rejoin once he’d recovered, he remarked that Reznor and NiN management had shown “complete apathy and no sympathy” when he didn't, a version of events disputed by Reznor himself. The rest of the band’s line-up remained steady, with the returning Finck, Clouser and Lohner on board for the Fragility Tour, which was cut short after Reznor overdosed backstage before a show in London.
After a five-year hiatus, NiN come back fighting for the tours to support 2005’s With Teeth and 2007’s Year Zero…
Aaron North
With only Reznor and Dillon remaining from the Fragile ensemble, some new recruits were required. North, of riotous LA punks The Icarus Line, was one such fresh face although he was soon in trouble when a security guard claimed North had attacked him with a mic stand during a gig in Wisconsin.
Jeordie White
Former Marilyn Manson and A Perfect Circle member White, aka Twiggy Ramirez, also joined for the tour, taking on bass duties.
Alessandro Cortini
Italian multi-instrumentalist Cortini also joined at this point on keys and synths. Cortini would leave in 2008 but return in 2013. He’s also performed with Reznor’s other band How To Destroy Angels.
Josh Freese
Former GN’R and future Foo Fighter Freese joined briefly as a replacement for Jerome Dillon and then properly later in 2005. He left after the band’s 2008 Lights In The Sky tour. With a third child on the way, he wanted to spend more time at home at home with his family.
Alex Carapetis
Aussie sticksman Carapetis stepped in for part of the With Teeth tour whilst the band were waiting for Freese to fully commit.
Justin Meldal-Johnsen
Prolific producer and musical director Meldal-Johnsen joined Reznor and the gang when his pal Josh Freese told him the band were urgently looking for a bassist after Rich Fownes had departed before playing a show (hence, he doesn’t get an entry here, sorry Rich). Joining in 2008, Meldal-Johnsen stayed with NiN until 2009.
Ilan Rubin
Impressed by watching the teenage Rubin perform at Reading with another band, Reznor emailed him after the departure of Freese and asked him to audition. He got the job, becoming the youngest person to join the band (he was 20 at the time) and has kept his place in the group ever since.
After another prolonged hiatus, Reznor puts a new band together before settling on the line-up that will take NiN into the modern age…
Josh Eustis
Telefon Tel Aviv member Eustis had known Reznor since the 90s and had also worked on remixes of several Fragile cuts. He joined as bassist for the tour to support 2013’s Hesitation Marks but soon moved onto keyboards after the arrival of Pino Palladino.
Pino Palladino
Having previously played with Gary Numan, The Who, Peter Gabriel, David Gilmour, Elton John, Mark Knopfler and, err, Jimmy Nail, Welsh dynamo Palladino arrived with a first-class CV when he joined NiN in 2013. He played on four tracks on Hesitation Marks.
Lisa Fischer
Sometime Rolling Stones backing singer Fischer joined in 2013 to sing backing vocals on the Tension run of dates.
Sharlotte Gibson
Gibson was part of the backing singer duo alongside Fischer in 2013, and also went on to provide vocals on the Add Violence cut Less Than.
Atticus Ross
The most recent addition is one of the most crucial. British engineer, producer and composter Ross was not new to the NiN-verse – he’d collaborated with Reznor in the studio going all the way back to the early 00s – but in 2016 he was officially announced as the band’s only second ever member. At that point, he was also brought into the live set-up as keyboardist, a move that meant Alessandro Cortini switched over to bass and guitar.
