Nine Inch Nails

Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (and stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. 

Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent collaborator, Atticus Ross. Reznor was previously the only permanent member of the band until Ross became an official member in 2016. 

The band's debut album, Pretty Hate Machine (1989), was released via TVT Records. After disagreements with TVT over how the album would be promoted, the band signed with Interscope Records and released the EP Broken (1992), followed by the albums The Downward Spiral (1994) and The Fragile (1999). 

Why did Reznor choose the name Nine Inch Nails for his band?. Here’s a list of some of the NIN band name origin theories:

• the Statue of Liberty’s nails are nine inches long (factually incorrect)
• coffin nails are typically nine inches long (at one time)
• there is enough iron in the human body to produce a nine-inch nail (factually incorrect)
• a reference to an obscure song lyric from a Tori Amos song (No, NIN had already been around for several years before its release)
• Freddy Krueger’s claws are nine inches long
• Jesus was crucified with nine-inch spikes

Reznor eventually put all these rumors and theories to rest by saying that Nine Inch Nails was simply one of approximately 200 potential band names. This one stuck, and it could be abbreviated easily.

Reznor during the 1991 Lollapalooza festival
Photo: Rik Goldman, CC BY-SA 3.0

When touring these days, Reznor typically assembles a live band to perform with him under the Nine Inch Nails name. Nine Inch Nails has sold over 20 million records worldwide and been nominated for 13 Grammy Awards, winning for the songs "Wish" in 1992 and "Happiness in Slavery" in 1996. 

Time magazine named Reznor one of its most influential people in 1997, while Spin magazine has described him as "the most vital artist in music". In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Nine Inch Nails No. 94 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Nine Inch Nails was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.