Marilyn Manson Picture and Photo Gallery:

The controversy surrounding goth-rock icon Marilyn Manson often overshadows his music, but the singer has maintained a decade-plus career nonetheless.

Before becoming an icon of parental outrage and rock'n'roll rebellion in the 1990s, Marilyn Manson was born Brian Warner in Canton, OH in 1969.

Following an early stint with a Florida band known as the Spooky kids, Manson reinvented the group under the now familiar Marilyn Manson moniker.

A protégé of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor, Manson and his eponymous band gained widespread exposure and a large fanbase thanks to Reznor's seal of approval, and the backing of his then record label, Nothing. The label released the band's debut, Portrait of an American Family in 1994.

Among the group's biggest hits were an unlikely cover of the Eurthymics' 1980s hit, "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)", and the eerie, Willy Wonka-themed, "Dope Hat."

Having grown up with the shock-rock music of Alice Cooper, Manson was well aware that being controversial was a key to publicity.