Claim: Trent Reznor started Nine Inch Nails.

Michael Trent Reznor -LRB- born May 17 , 1965 -RRB- , known professionally as Trent Reznor , is an American singer , songwriter , musician , record producer , and film score composer .   As a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist , Reznor is best known as the founder and principal songwriter of industrial rock project Nine Inch Nails . His first release under this pseudonym , the 1989 album Pretty Hate Machine , was a commercial and critical success . He has since released eight studio albums . He left Interscope Records in 2007 and was an independent recording artist until signing with Columbia Records in 2012 .   Reznor was associated with the bands Option 30 , The Urge , The Innocent , and Exotic Birds in the mid-1980s . Outside of Nine Inch Nails , he has contributed to the albums of artists such as Marilyn Manson and Saul Williams . He and his wife , Mariqueen Maandig , are members of the post-industrial group How to Destroy Angels , alongside Reznor 's fellow composer Atticus Ross and long-time Nine Inch Nails graphic designer Rob Sheridan .   Reznor and Ross scored the David Fincher films The Social Network -LRB- 2010 -RRB- , The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -LRB- 2011 -RRB- , and Gone Girl -LRB- 2014 -RRB- , winning the Academy Award for Best Original Score for The Social Network and the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo . In 1997 , Reznor appeared in Time list of the year 's most influential people , while Spin magazine has described him as `` the most vital artist in music '' .