Shirley Manson is a British singer who is known to many for her work with the Garbage group. From childhood, she showed an interest in music and, despite the difficult teenage years, was able to achieve popularity and fame.
Shirley Ann Manson was born on August 26, 1966. Her place of birth is the city of Edinburgh, which is located in Scotland (Great Britain). Her father, John Manson, studied genetics and taught this discipline at one of the local educational institutions. Mother - Muriel Manson - was a jazz singer. In the family, besides Shirley herself, there are two more daughters.
An interesting fact from the biography of Shirley Manson: they called the girl that name for a reason, but in honor of her aunt.
Shirley Manson childhood and adolescence
Looking at this famous and popular singer at the moment, it's hard to think that childhood and adolescence for Shirley was a very difficult period of time.
While studying at school, Shirley could not find a common language with her classmates, who mocked the girl because of her hobbies, character, because of her extravagant appearance. Relations with teachers also did not work out: Manson did not have good academic performance, she often skipped classes. In the last year of her schooling, Shirley practically did not appear in the walls of the educational institution at all.
As a teenager, Shirley had a hard time going through all the conflicts at school, she was prone to depression. She made several suicide attempts, unable to endure the emotional pain and bullying at school any longer. A little later, the young girl contacted a company of infamous teenagers. Due to the influence exerted on her at that time from new friends, Shirley began to drink alcohol, tried drugs, and became addicted to smoking. And only after graduating from school she was able to pull herself together and start changing her life.
However, despite numerous negative moments in childhood and adolescence, Shirley was interested in creativity and, in particular, music from an early age. Thanks to this hobby, from the age of seven, Shirley learned to play the piano, and, becoming a little older, she entered the music school of her hometown. As a teenager, she became interested in playing on stage and was a member of the school acting circle, taking an active part in various performances and productions. In particular, Shirley Manson played one of the roles in the amateur production of The Wizard of Oz.
Years after school and the first serious steps in music
After receiving basic education, Shirley Manson did not enter any higher educational institution. Instead, she took a job as a waitress, later worked as a sales assistant in one of the local beauty shops and even was a fashion model, despite being critical of her appearance.
Working in a cosmetics store gave rise to Shirley's interest in make-up and visage. As a result, with access to a variety of beauty products, she began working with several bands as a stylist. In parallel with this, Shirley increasingly began to appear in Edinburgh nightclubs, meet people from the music industry and try herself as a vocalist (The Wild Indians) and as a backing vocalist (Autumn 1904).
The first really serious step in music for Shirley Manson was the participation in Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie. In this group, she was not only on vocals. Shirley also played keyboards and was the manager of the band.
In 1984 Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie released their first disc titled 'Death of a Salesman'. A little later, the record company offered Shirley a contract for a solo work with them, Manson did not refuse such a thing, but such cooperation did not bring outstanding fruits.
Shirley Manson's musical career development
In 1993, Angelfish was formed, where Shirley Manson took over as vocalist. In addition to her, the team included some members from the Goodbye Mr. team, which had already disbanded at that time. Mackenzie.
In 1994, Angelfish released their first album, followed by two singles, and the band toured the cities. One of the band's songs was able to break into the MTV charts, the video for it also began to be broadcast on television. This has brought Shirley Manson fame and popularity. Representatives of the music industry began to look closely at her.
In the same 1994, a young and bright girl with interesting vocals attracted the attention of Steve Marker, who at that time was one of the leading music producers in the United States. Steve invited Shirley to become the voice and face of the start-up band Garbage. However, the first meeting and audition were not very successful and for the time being Shirley had to return to Angelfish. However, when the team broke up, she again contacted the producer and insisted on meeting again. The end result was positive: Shirley signed a contract and in the late summer of 1994 became a member of the group Garbage.
The musical group Garbage, whose official face Shirley became in 1996, initially existed until 2008. During this time, they managed to release four records, and for the second album of the group, Manson herself wrote the lyrics and music. The group was forced to suspend its activities from 2000 to 2005 due to serious health problems with Shirley Manson: she was diagnosed with a cyst of the vocal cords, which had to undergo surgery, and after that there was a long recovery period.
Despite the fact that in 2008 the group announced its disbandment, in 2010 they made an attempt to get together again. As a result, the band released two more discs in 2012 and 2016.
During the period of "downtime" Shirley Manson tried to engage in a solo project, but as a result, this venture was unsuccessful.
Love, family and personal life of the singer
While working with Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie the girl was in a relationship with a man named Martin Matcalf, who was the founder of this musical group. However, the relationship did not last long.
In 1996, Shirley Manson became the wife of architect Eddie Farrell. The couple divorced in 2003.
Shirley's second marriage was in 2010. This time her husband was Billy Bush, who is engaged in sound engineering.
Additional projects
Shirley Manson is not only passionate about music. At various times, she took part in television shows, starred in films. In addition, she tried herself as a writer by releasing one book, which came out in 2007.
The British vocalist devotes a lot of time to charity. In the past, she was a leading cosmetics company. The proceeds from the sale of the product went to funds to fight HIV and AIDS. In 2008, Manson released a single, the money from the sales of which was directed to children's hospitals that treat oncology.
