5/31/2025 | Entertainment | GB
Shirley Manson has never been one to mince words. Whether she's belting out anthems with Garbage or calling out ageist tabloids on Instagram, the Scottish rock icon has always been unapologetically herself. And at nearly 60, she's not slowing down. In fact, she's just dropped a new album, Let All That We Imagine Be the Light, packed with the kind of fire breathing intensity that made her a star in the first place.
But Manson isn't just fighting the music industry's obsession with youth. She's also sounding the alarm on something far bigger: the eerie silence around global crises. "What's going on at the BBC?" she asks, voice sharp with frustration. The lack of coverage on Gaza, Ukraine, and other humanitarian disasters? It's unacceptable. And she's not alone in her outrage. Annie Lennox, another legendary voice, has been spotlighting the horrors in Gaza. Manson says it's "wild" that seasoned artists have to do the work news outlets won't.
Meanwhile, back in the world of music, the hypocrisy stings just as bad. When Garbage released their 2021 album No Gods No Masters, journalists asked Manson if she should consider retiring. Her male bandmates—older, by the way—never got that question. So she did what she does best: turned fury into art. The track "Chinese Fire Horse" is a biting clapback, a glam punk middle finger to ageist remarks. When that same tabloid trotted out its tired "unrecognizable" headline again recently, Manson laughed. They'd handed her the perfect promo.
She's not just fighting for herself, though. Manson knows the weight her voice carries, especially for women in rock. The industry still treats aging female artists like expired milk, while their male counterparts get called "seasoned." But Manson has a coven, a tight knit circle of women in music who've got each other's backs. And she's not about to let the next generation forget their power.
So what's her secret to staying so fierce? Maybe it's those "bionic hips" she jokes about post surgery. Or maybe it's just pure, unfiltered defiance. One thing's clear: Shirley Manson isn't done. Not with music, not with activism, and definitely not with calling out the garbage the world keeps throwing her way.
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By Homer Keaton , this article was inspired by this source.