Birthday Highlight:

Mark Oliver Everett, better knows as E., the creative force behind the band Eels, is 52 today. The son of physicist Hugh Everett III (originator of the "many-worlds" interpretation of quantum theory), E. began his career as a solo artist under the "E" moniker with two critically acclaimed albums before launching the more widely successful Eels project, whose 10 albums have consistently been just as well received. E. is known for writing songs tackling subjects such as death, mental illness, loneliness and unrequited love.

Also, Today In:

1956 - Nat King Cole was attacked on stage by a group of five racial segregationists during a show at the Municipal Hall in Birmingham, Ala.

1967 - Marvin Gaye recorded his version of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine". The song was first recorded by The Miracles and had also been a million-seller in 1967 for Gladys Knight and the Pips.

1970 - At a concert in Boston, Jim Morrison paused to ask the audience, "Does anyone want to see my genitals?" Apparently, he had some takers. Theater management quickly switched off the power, and Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek dragged Morrison off stage.

1970 - In a press release announcing his imminent debut solo album, Paul McCartney quit The Beatles. McCartney was released 10 days later.

1976 - Peter Frampton went to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with Frampton Comes Alive. It was the best-selling album of 1976, selling more than 6 million copies in the U.S., and was voted Album of the Year in a 1976 Rolling Stone readers' poll. It stayed on the chart for 97 weeks.

1990 - A jury awarded Tom Waits $2.5 million in punitive damages following his suit against Doritos chips for unauthorized usage of a Waits sound-alike singer in a commercial.

1993 - Depeche Mode entered the U.S. album chart at No. 1 with Songs Of Faith And Devotion.

2001 - Bruce Springsteen won a court battle to keep the rights to his early songs.

2013 - Kate Bush received her CBE — Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, an order of chivalry — for her services to music, presented by Queen Elizabeth II at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle. The singer-songwriter, who was catapulted to fame in 1978 when Wuthering Heights topped the charts, said she was "incredibly thrilled", and she dedicated the award to her family and joked that it would have pride of place at the top of her Christmas tree.

Birthdays:

Brian Setzer is 56 today.