"We always thought we'd get the call to say, Can you turn it down just a little bit?" Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross add to their trophy cabinet with Golden Globe win for Challengers

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
(Image credit: Tommaso Boddi/GG2025/Penske Media via Getty Images)

Nine Inch Nails duo Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have been awarded a Golden Globe for their soundtrack to Luca Guadagnino's Challengers.

Their victory adds another trophy to their already stacked CV, the pair's 15-year collaboration having previously been honoured with Oscars and Golden Globe wins for the likes of The Social Network and Soul. Their friendship began when Reznor signed Londoner Ross' band 12 Rounds to his Nothing label in the late '90s.

The duo picked up the award from Elton John and Brandi Carlile at the ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles last night, January 5. In his acceptance speech, Ross described Reznor as "my best friend", and a "great talent", and said of the score, "To be honest, we always thought we'd get the call, 'Can you turn it down just a little bit?' But it never came, and here we are."

“It allows the audience to feel this fire between these characters that never goes away,” the film's star Zendaya said of the score, speaking to Variety in April. “It’s constantly changing, and that’s what makes it really fun.”

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Reznor said, “Scoring has provided a way for me to feel vital, to feel challenged.”

“Over the last 10 years or so, I’ve been a bit disillusioned by popular music,” Reznor admitted. “As I get older, some things feel less relatable to me. The business sucks. The way people consume music is not as inspiring as it used to be, it’s marginalized in a lot of ways. Scoring has provided a way for me to feel vital, to feel challenged.”

Paul Brannigan
Contributing Editor, Louder

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.