Dre

Mark Oliver Everett entered the world on April 9, 1963, in Virginia and later performed under the alias E as a quirk-pop singer and songwriter. His physicist father’s death in 1971 plunged him into an extended period of turmoil; after struggling with substance abuse during adolescence, he left school behind and found work at a gas station. An eventual pull toward music prompted him to begin writing reviews, after which he shifted into engineering and production roles. Once he relocated to California, Everett embraced the E persona and launched a solo path, issuing his first effort, A Man Called (E), in 1992—a set of densely layered yet emotionally splintered pop numbers rooted in personal history. Broken Toy Shop arrived the next year, yet despite favorable notices the two albums moved few copies, prompting Polydor to end the contract. He subsequently assembled the group the Eels, whose opening release, Beautiful Freak, drew wide press attention in 1996 through its flagship track “Novacaine for the Soul.” Just before the album appeared, however, Everett’s sister took her own life, and the loss—compounded by his mother’s death from cancer—shaped the stark Electro-Shock Blues that surfaced in 1998. Daisies of the Galaxy came out two years afterward.