Tom Waits/Awesome


 * His break with Asylum and his dramatic reinvention after his collaboration with and marriage to Kathleen Brenan. (Also counts as a Crowning Music of Awesome)
 * "Spacious Thoughts," his recent collaboration with Kool Keith on N.A.S.A.'s The Spirit of Apollo.
 * Winning several lawsuits over the use of his songs in advertisements (which he hates, apparently)...and donating the money he got out of them to charity. (Rumour has it that he then went on to punch out a lion, which might have been Chuck Norris in a lion suit)
 * His 2011 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.