Garbage is an American rock group consisting of Scottish vocalist Shirley Manson and American musicians Duke Erikson, Steve Marker and Butch Vig, and has counted worldwide album sales of over 14 million units.

Garbage released a string of increasingly successful singles in 1995–1996, including "Stupid Girl". Their debut album, Garbage, was an unexpected smash, selling over 4 million copies and certified double platinum in the UK, USA and Australia. Garbage won the Breakthrough Artist award at the 1996 MTV Europe Music Awards.

Garbage spent two years working on follow-up album, Version 2.0, which topped the charts in the UK upon its 1998 release and the following year was nominated for two Grammy Awards, Album of the Year and Best Rock Album.

Version 2.0 went on to match the sales of its predecessor. Garbage followed this up by performing and co-producing the theme song to the nineteenth James Bond movie The World Is Not Enough.

Despite being named one of Rolling Stone's Top 10 Albums of The Year, Garbage's 2001 third album Beautiful Garbage failed to match the commercial success achieved by its predecessors. Garbage quietly disbanded in late 2003, but regrouped to complete fourth album Bleed Like Me in 2005, peaking at a career-high #4 in the U.S.

The band cut short their concert tour in support of Bleed Like Me announcing an "indefinite hiatus", emphasising that they had not broken up, but wished to pursue personal interests.

In 2006, Vig returned to producing while Manson recorded a solo album. Garbage ended their hiatus in 2007, and released greatest hits retrospective Absolute Garbage, with a view to record its fifth studio album in 2008.