Shirley Manson

Shirley Ann Manson (born 26 August 1966) is a Scottish singer, songwriter, and musician who is the lead vocalist of the rock band Garbage. Deemed a "Godmother of Rock" by The New York Times, she is noted for her distinctive deep voice, forthright style, and rebellious attitude. As of 2017, Garbage have sold over 17 million records; her accolades with the band include nominations for two Brit Awards and seven Grammy Awards.

Manson's musical career began in her teens, when she was approached to perform backing vocals and keyboards for the band Goodbye Mr Mackenzie. She was later approached by the band's record label with the idea of launching her as a solo artist, and recorded an album with her band Angelfish. She joined Garbage in 1994, and they achieved critical and commercial success with their self-titled debut album (1995) and Version 2.0 (1998). During this period, they released a string of successful singles including "Queer", "Only Happy When It Rains", "Stupid Girl", "Milk", "Push It", "Special" and "When I Grow Up". They followed this by performing and co-producing the theme song to the 19th James Bond film The World Is Not Enough (1999) and releasing their acclaimed third album Beautiful Garbage (2001), preceded by successful singles including "Androgyny" and "Cherry Lips".

Following the troubled production of Garbage's fourth album Bleed Like Me (2005), the group went on hiatus; during this period, they released a greatest hits album (2007). Manson began to write and record solo material in 2006, and played Catherine Weaver on the science fiction television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008). Garbage reunited in 2010, and have since released four more albums: Not Your Kind of People (2012), Strange Little Birds (2016), No Gods No Masters (2021) and the acclaimed Let All That We Imagine Be the Light (2025). Manson also hosted the music podcast The Jump with Shirley Manson (2019–2021).