A Scottish singer known for her fiery red hair and incredible pop and rock songs looks unrecognizable 28 years after the release of her band’s debut album.
The American band, known for hits such as Stupid Girl and Only Happy When It Rains, was formed in 1993 and has sold over 17 million albums worldwide.
Their first two albums were huge hits, and in 1999 they followed up by performing and co-producing the theme song to the nineteenth James Bond film, The World Is Not Enough.
However, the band’s third album failed to achieve the commercial success of the others and they split up during the production of their fourth album.
The still beautiful and oh-so-cool front woman, hailed as a feminist icon, is Shirley Manson, 57, of the 90s band Garbage.
Can you do it? The Scottish singer (left) from a US rock band is almost unrecognizable 28 years after the release of her debut album – so who is she and what is she doing now?
Flashback: That’s right, it’s Shirley Manson from the rock band Garbage, pictured in 1998
As she is now: Feminist icon and all-around super-cool singer Shirley still performs with the legendary ’90s band
The group consists of Shirley (vocals), Duke Erikson (guitar, bass and keyboards), Steve Marker (guitar and keyboards) and finally Butch Vig (drums and production).
Famously, the band canceled their Bleed Like Me tour in 2005 and announced an indefinite hiatus to pursue separate interests.
In 2007 they regrouped to record new hits and released their seventh studio album “No Gods No Masters” in 2021.
In 2008, Shirley played a liquid metal T-1001 Terminator named Catherine Weaver in the second season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
The year before, Shirley’s mother was diagnosed with Pick’s disease, an aggressive form of dementia, and rescued a dog named Veela.
She told the Guardian: “Veela felt it [my mother’s illness]. She stayed close to my mother, squeezing next to her on the couch, in the car, in the garden. “I appreciate a lot of photos from that time that tie the two together.”
She said: “When my mother died less than 12 months later, it was Veela who spoke directly and most effectively about the pain I was in.” Around this time I was filming a science fiction television show in which I was a played an all-powerful and powerful Terminator who felt no human emotions.
“In real life, I was struggling to process my mother’s death, but whenever I came home from work, Veela would be there, dancing on her hind legs and demanding to be walked, fed, cuddled and engaged to wanted. Slowly I began to heal.’
Praised: The band, known for hits such as Stupid Girl and Only Happy When It Rains, formed in 1993 and have sold over 17 million albums worldwide – Shirley pictured in 1996
New Role: In 2008, Shirley played a liquid metal T-1001 Terminator named Catherine Weaver in the second season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Her love: She is now happily married to the sound engineer Billy Bush. The couple married in a Los Angeles courthouse in May 2010 and live together in LA – pictured in 2018
I love them: Garbage are still together and released their career-spanning anthology album in October last year – pictured in 1996
Garbage are still together and released their career-spanning anthology album in October last year.
Shirley, born to her mother Muriel, a singer, and university lecturer John, was married to artist Eddie Farrell from 1996 to 2003.
She then married sound engineer Billy Bush in a Los Angeles courthouse in May 2010 and still live together there.
Shirley was asked by Another magazine in 2022 what she learned from recording a Bond theme, and she replied: “The bigger you get, the harder you fall and the crueler the critics get!”
She was also asked, “What would your parents do for a living?”
And she replied: “After I played our last album to my 85-year-old father, there was a pause and he said, ‘Don’t you think you should have gone to university?’
“Honestly, my eyes rolled out of the back of my head. My father was a university professor and although he is very proud of me, I think he is disappointed that I gave up my intelligence for rock and roll.’