“The Downward Spiral became a self-fulfilling prophecy. I wound up distorted – someone I didn't know”: As Nine Inch Nails’ classic album was selling by the million, Trent Reznor was losing his mind

Trent Reznor in 1994.

In 1997, Trent Reznor was named among Time magazine's 25 Most Influential Americans. But Reznor, the visionary leader of Nine Inch Nails, almost quit the music business at the height of his success in that decade.

In a 1999 interview with Kerrang!, he revealed that he had experienced something akin to a nervous breakdown after Nine Inch Nails’ 1994 album The Downward Spiral sold five million copies.