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Mark Oliver Everett

(Redirected from E (musician))

Mark Oliver Everett (born April 10, 1963) is the lead singer of the pop band Eels. Also known as E and Mr. E, he is the son of physicist Hugh Everett III, originator of the many-worlds theory of quantum physics. In childhood, Everett developed a love of toy instruments, a love which would continue later in life and provide an integral part of his ideosyncratic musical form.

After discovering his father dead in his study, Everett moved at the age of 19 from his family home in Virginia, resettling in California. Everett began his musical career with two independently released albums: A Man Called E and Broken Toy Shop . The pseudonym E was used for both of these early recordings.

Everett's sister, Elizabeth, committed suicide in 1996, and in 1998, his mother died of cancer. As part of his path to overcoming these painful events, Everett used some of Elizabeth's poetry, written while she was in a psychiatric institution, to form a large part of the lyrics for what many consider to be Eels' most complete album to date, "Electro-Shock Blues". This dark release, alternating furious energy with strikingly authentic desperation, was followed by 2000's "Daisies of the Galaxy", which had a gentler sound that indicated Everett's spiritual recovery had begun.

In 2000, Everett underwent a spiritual retreat, during which time he was forbidden to write or speak. Finding himself inspired, Everett broke the rules of the retreat and wrote the lyrics for the eels' Souljacker album. At the retreat, Everett also met the woman who would become his wife, a Russian dentist.

Everett is a master of studio recordings, and his early solo work and Eels collaborations were hailed by critics for their innovative combination of various instruments and styles. Everett has used everything from toy piano in his early "Symphony for a Toy Piano in G Minor" to hammers on a radiator as percussion in 1998's "Cancer for the Cure." He is rumoured to be the man behind MC Honky, who released the album I am the Messiah in 2003.

Right now, Eels and Mark Oliver Everett are working on a new album titled Blinking Lights and Other Revelations...

Last updated: 05-24-2005 01:27:54
Last updated: 10-29-2005 02:13:46