Mark Oliver Everett

Mark Oliver Everett (born April 10, 1963) is the American lead singer, songwriter, guitarist, keyboardist and sometimes drummer of the rock band Eels. Also known as "E", he is known for writing songs tackling subjects such as death, loneliness, divorce, childhood innocence, depression, and unrequited love.

Mark Oliver Everett
Background information
Also known asE, MC Honky
Born (1963-04-10) April 10, 1963
Virginia, United States
OriginLos Feliz, California, US
GenresAlternative rock
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, record production
InstrumentsVocals, guitar, piano, keyboard, drums, bass, harmonica, programming, melodica
Years active1985–present
LabelsPolydor, DreamWorks, EWorks, Vagrant
Associated actsEels, MC Honky
Websiteeelstheband.com

Biography

Mark Oliver Everett is the son of physicist Hugh Everett III, originator of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum theory. Everett's maternal grandfather was Harold "Kid" Gore, a legendary men's basketball, football and baseball coach at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.[1] When Everett was in his early teens, an incident occurred while he was attending a concert by English rock band The Who. A special effects laser struck Everett directly in the eye. As a result, he has needed to wear glasses ever since.[2]

In 1987, Everett moved from his family home in Virginia and resettled in California. There, Everett began his professional musical career with two major-label albums: A Man Called E and Broken Toy Shop. The pseudonym "E" was used for both of these early recordings. He became known as "E" because there were several people in his life at the time who had the same first name.[3] While it may have caused some confusion in record stores and radio stations, the single-letter name gave the press a playful handle. This playfulness was evident in a review by the eminent writer Daniel Levitin which began: "Excellent eponymous effort, energizingly eclectic. Early enthusiasm effectively ensures E's eminence."[4] A Billboard magazine review of his second album was similarly positive.[5]

In July 2014 Everett was given the Freedom of the City of London, at a ceremony held prior to his concert at the Barbican Centre.[6]

Everett has described himself as an agnostic[7] and also explicitly used language thanking God.[8]

Everett's family

Everett's family has inspired him, e.g. the song "Things the Grandchildren Should Know" (he would later publish an autobiography of the same name) and the song "3 Speed", referencing the writings of his sister Liz. Everett made a documentary about his father's theory and his relationship with his father entitled Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives for the BBC that was aired on the PBS series NOVA in 2008.[9]

Everett's father, Hugh, died of a heart attack when Everett was 19. Mark was the one to find him.[10] His sister, Elizabeth, took her own life in 1996,[11] and in 1998 his mother, Nancy Everett née Gore, died of lung cancer.[11] Following these tragedies, Everett and Eels released Electro-Shock Blues in 1998.

His cousin, Jennifer Lewis née Gore, was a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 77, the plane that struck The Pentagon during the September 11, 2001 attacks.[12] The plane struck the side of the Pentagon where his father had worked, and Everett remarks in his autobiography that he wonders whether the plane hit his father's old office.[13]

In 2000 he married Natalia Kovaleva,[14] a Russian dentist he met near Hamburg, Germany. The marriage ended after five years. Following EELS' tour accompanying their eleventh studio album, The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett, Everett took a break from music. During this period, he met and married a Scottish woman employed in the film industry. At the age of 54, Everett became a father for the first time when his wife gave birth to their son, Archie McGregor Everett. The couple, however, divorced some time later.[15]

Career

Everett has used everything from a 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". Despite his constant denials, he is suspected of being the man behind MC Honky, who released the album I Am the Messiah in 2003.[16]

Everett's music has also been featured on a number of films, including American Beauty ("Cancer for the Cure"), Road Trip ("Mr. E's Beautiful Blues"), Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas ("Christmas is Going to the Dogs"), Holes ("Eyes Down," "Mighty Fine Blues"), Shrek ("My Beloved Monster"), Shrek 2 ("I Need Some Sleep"), Shrek The Third ("Royal Pain" and "Losing Streak"), Shrek the Halls ("The Stars Shine in the Sky Tonight"), Hellboy II: The Golden Army ("Beautiful Freak"), Henry Poole is Here ("Love of the Loveless"), The Big White ("Last Stop;This Town") Hot Fuzz ("Souljacker, pt.1"), The Big Year ("I Like Birds"), as well as most of the music in Yes Man. Additionally, his song "Fresh Blood" (off Hombre Lobo) forms the music played over the credits of HBO's The Jinx.

During 2005, Everett and his ad hoc Eels went on tour promoting his album, Blinking Lights and Other Revelations. It was during this recording that he worked with long-time hero and influence Tom Waits. In November 2007, Everett published his autobiography, entitled Things the Grandchildren Should Know.[17][18]

The 2007 BBC Scotland / BBC Four television documentary "Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives", followed Everett as he talked to physicists and his father's former colleagues about his father's theory.[19][20] The documentary won a Royal Television Society award on March 19, 2008.[21] The documentary was shown in lieu of a support act during their UK, US, Irish and Australian[22][23] tours in the spring of 2008. In the U.S., the PBS program Nova broadcast the documentary in October 2008.[24]

The seventh Eels studio album—Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs of Desire—was released on June 2, 2009.[25]

On January 19, 2010, Everett released his eighth Eels album, entitled End Times, which deals with themes of aging and divorce.[26] On August 23, 2010, Eels released a 9th album, 'Tomorrow Morning', which represents the final part of the trilogy begun by 'Hombre Lobo.'[27]

Everett plays an acoustic version of the Eels tune ‘What I Have to Offer’ in a deleted scene from This Is 40,[28] and follows his performance by telling Rudd's record-executive character that the band has decided to sign a contract with a competing label.

On February 4, 2013, the tenth album of Eels, Wonderful, Glorious, was released, followed by The Cautionary Tales Of Mark Oliver Everett, released only a year later on April 21, 2014.

On February 19, 2016, Everett appeared as Brian in Series 1 Episode 4 (A Party in the Hills) of Judd Apatow's Love, playing a cover of Paul McCartney's song 'Jet.' He also briefly appeared in Series 1 Episode 9, Series 2 Episode 2 and Series 3 Episode 6. He had a small cameo in Bill & Ted Face the Music.[8]

The twelfth Eels album, The Deconstruction, was released on April 6, 2018.[29] Earth to Dora followed in 2020.

Discography
Main article: Eels discography

References
  1. Everett, Mark Oliver (September 29, 2009). Things The Grandchildren Should Know. Book – Things the Grandchildren Should Know. ISBN 9780312429171. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
  2. "PARALLEL WORLDS, PARALLEL LIVES". Vimeo.
  3. Grierson, Tim (2011). Eels Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (First ed.). London: Omnibus Press. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-84938-596-1.
  4. Levitin, D.J. (March 16, 1992). "E: A Man Called (E)". Recording-Engineer-Producer (REP). Overland Park, Kansas: Intertec. 23 (2).
  5. Levitin, D.J. (December 18, 1993). "E's New Polydor Set Proves He's No Mere Man of Letters". Billboard.
  6. "Eels frontman receives Freedom of London". Digital Spy. July 25, 2014. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  7. Everett, Mark (2008). Things the Grandchildren Should Know. New York City: Little, Brown. p. 98. ISBN 978-0-316-02787-8.
  8. Beaumont, Mark (September 16, 2020). "Eels on New Album Earth to Dora: 'Dark Phases Happen, But They Will Get Better". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  9. "Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives". BBC. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
  10. Grierson, Tim (2011). Eels Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (First ed.). London, England: Omnibus Press. pp. 23–24. ISBN 978-1-84938-596-1.
  11. Lachno, James (April 24, 2014). "Eels: no one does misery like Mark Oliver Everett". The Telegraph UK. London, England: Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  12. "America at War – The Human Toll". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  13. Everett, Mark (2008). Things The GrandChildren Should Know. New York City: Little, Brown. p. 202. ISBN 978-0-316-02787-8.
  14. Grierson, Tim (2011). Eels Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (First ed.). London, England: Omnibus Press. p. 214. ISBN 978-1-84938-596-1.
  15. Doherty, Niall (May 2018). "Songs in The Key of Life". Q. London, England: Bauer Media Group. pp. 68–73.
  16. Croce, Leah Della (August 9, 2012). "Brighter Days". Modern Rock Review.
  17. "Fiction & Non-Fiction Authors Published by Little, Brown Book Group". Littlebrown.co.uk. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  18. Murray, Charles Shaar (January 25, 2008). "Things the Grandchildren Should Know, By Mark Oliver Everett – Reviews – Books". The Independent. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  19. Parker, Robin (November 6, 2007). "BBC4 to explore parallel universe | News | Broadcast". Broadcastnow.co.uk. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  20. Thompson, Andrew (November 26, 2007). "Science/Nature | The rock star and the quantum mechanic". BBC News. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  21. "Eels: Official Band Website". Eelstheband.com. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  22. "An Evening With EELS". Enmore Theatre. April 27, 2008. Archived from the original on June 30, 2014. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  23. "Oceans Never Listen". Oceansneverlisten.blogspot.fr. April 28, 2008. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  24. "The Many Worlds Theory Today". PBS. October 21, 2010.
  25. Thom Jurek. "Hombre Loco: 12 Songs of Desire". All Music Guide. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  26. "End Times News". Eels. October 14, 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
  27. Thom Jurek. "Tomorrow Morning". All Music Guide. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  28. Included in the bonus features on the dvd/Blu-ray release of This Is 40
  29. "Eels: Official Band Website: The Deconstruction". Eelstheband.com.
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