Garbage is a Scottish-American alternative rock band formed in 1994 at Madison, Wisconsin, USA. The group members are Shirley Manson (vocals, guitars), Steve Marker (guitars, keyboards), Duke Erikson (guitars, keyboards, bass), and Butch Vig (drums, percussion). Erikson, Marker and Vig are also producers and remixers (Vig is best known for producing Nevermind by Nirvana). To date, the band sold over 17 million albums worldwide. ...show more

Garbage is a Scottish-American alternative rock band formed in 1994 at Madison, Wisconsin, USA. The group members are Shirley Manson (vocals, guitars), Steve Marker (guitars, keyboards), Duke Erikson (guitars, keyboards, bass), and Butch Vig (drums, percussion). Erikson, Marker and Vig are also producers and remixers (Vig is best known for producing Nevermind by Nirvana). To date, the band sold over 17 million albums worldwide.

Initially, Garbage was an informal jam session between the three producers held in Marker's basement. Steve Marker saw the music video of "Suffocate Me" by Angelfish on MTV, recorded it and showcased it to his band mates. They invited the Scottish vocalist Shirley Manson to join Garbage, she accepted, and soon Angelfish disbanded. According to Vig, Garbage was named before Manson joined the band, after the percussionist Pauli Ryan walked in while Vig was working on a remix for Nine Inch Nails and said it sounded like "garbage".

In August 1995, the group released their debut album Garbage, preceded by their first single "Vow" in March 1995. This album was an unexpected smash, selling over 5 million copies and reaching double platinum status in the UK (#6), USA (#20), Australia. Also it received great reviews from critics and featured on the book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die." They released five singles from this album: "Vow" (#138 UK, #97 US), "Only Happy When It Rains" (#29 UK, #55 US), "Queer" (#13 UK, #57 US Hot 100 Airplay chart), "Stupid Girl" (#4 UK, #24 US), and "Milk" (#10 UK, #44 AUS). A non-album single entitled "Subhuman" was released on 7 August 1995 and peaked at #50 in the UK. ...show less