During an appearance on the YouTube channel “Interviewing with Legends,” John Corabi (singer for the super group The Dead Daisies, and former member of The Scream and Mötley Crüe) shared his opinion of Marilyn Manson, saying that he doesn’t think the controversial rocker is as original as some of his fans believe.
Recalling a conversation he had with his now ex-wife over 20 years ago, Corabi said:
“This was back in the early 2000s. I was married for a minute to this girl that was just raving about Marilyn Manson, who I actually like. This is not a slag towards Marilyn Manson, but she was like, ‘Oh my God! He’s so original and ra ra ra ra,’ and I kind of sat there for a minute, and I’m like, ‘Not really.’”
Corabi continued, pointing out how much Manson leans on his musical influences.
“Okay, let me just explain to you what Marilyn Manson has done here. Marilyn Manson is taking elements of Alice Cooper, and he’s mixing it with elements from David Bowie, and then he [is taking] elements of Nine Inch Nails, and he’s putting it in a stew, and he’s doing his own thing,” the musician said.
Corabi then remembered that when he watched a reshowing of David Bowie’s final performance as Ziggy Stardust on the Independent Film Channel, he noticed a familiar symbol being used as Bowie’s backdrop.
“You know that giant circle with the broken arrow pointing down that Manson had as his logo? That was David Bowie’s backdrop in that video,” he explained.
“I called her over, and I said, ‘Look, I want you to watch this, and tell me what you see.’ She’s sitting there. She’s looking at [it]. She goes, ‘What are you looking at?’ I go, ‘Look at David Bowie’s backdrop.’ She goes, ‘That’s Marilyn Manson’s logo.’ I go, ‘No, that’s David Bowie’s logo. Marilyn Manson just re-did it again.’”
In the past, Manson has openly talked about how much he has admired David Bowie and his music. In 2016, he even covered Bowie’s “Cat People (Putting Out Fire)” with Shooter Jennings.
Manson has also previously named Alice Cooper, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, and The Smashing Pumpkins as some of his biggest influences.
