“Starfuckers, Inc.” by Nine Inch Nails

Trent Reznor saved some of the heaviest artillery on The Fragile, Nine Inch Nails' sprawling third album from 1999, for "Starfuckers, Inc.", a song he wrote with Charlie Clouser and aimed squarely at vanity and the cheap cashing-in on fame. The verses stutter along on breakbeats, deep bass thuds and glitched-up vocals, then the chorus slams in on metal guitars and a crowd shouting along, with the Buddha Boys Choir among the credited voices, before the outro drowns in synths, distortion and sound effects.

Reznor even lifts the chorus of Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" to twist the knife, though the censored version, "Starsuckers, Inc.", swapped those lines out for its video. The song never got an official halo number, the tag Nine Inch Nails give each release, but an edited single with exclusive radio edits was sent out.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.