Mark Farner

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mark Farner

Background information
Born	September 29, 1948 Flint, Michigan, USA
Genre(s)	Rock CCM
Occupation(s)	Musician Songwriter
Instrument(s)	Guitar Vocals Keyboard
Years active	1969 - Present
Label(s)	Capitol MCA Warner Lismark
Associated acts	Grand Funk Railroad Terry Knight and the Pack N'rG Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band
Website	http://www.markfarner.com

Mark Farner (born September 29, 1948 in Flint, Michigan) is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and guitarist for Grand Funk Railroad, and later as a Contemporary Christian Musician.

Farner began his career in music playing in bands like Terry Knight and The Pack (1965-1966), The Bossmen (1966), The Pack (aka The Fabulous Pack) (1967-1968), before forming Grand Funk Railroad with Don Brewer and Mel Schacher in 1969.

After Grand Funk disbanded in 1977, Farner released his first self titled solo album. In 1978, Farner released his second solo album, entitled No Frills.

In 1981, Grand Funk reunited and recorded two albums, Grand Funk Lives and What's Funk?.

In 1988, Farner returned with Just Another Injustice on Frontline Records. His third Frontline release was 1991's Some Kind of Wonderful, which featured a revamped version of the Grand Funk classic of the same name. Farner enjoyed success with the John Beland composition "Isn't it Amazing", which earned him a Dove Award nomination and reached #2 on the Christian Contemporary charts.

In the 1990s, Farner formed Lismark Communications with former Freedom Reader editor Steve Lisuk. Soon after, Farner began reissuing his solo albums on his own record label, LisMark Records.

From 1994 to 1995, Farner toured with Ringo Starr's Allstars, which also featured Randy Bachman, John Entwistle, Felix Cavalaire, Billy Preston, and Ringo's son, Zak Starkey.

In the late 1990s, Farner reunited with Grand Funk, but left after three years to resume his solo career. He currently tours with his band, N'rG, which plays a mixture of Grand Funk classics and Farner's solo offerings.

An authorized biography of Farner, entitled From Grand Funk to Grace, was published in 2002 by Collectors Guide Publishing in Canada.

[edit] Trivia

On 28 August 1999, Mark was honoured with the Lakota Sioux Elders Honor Mark. During the concert in Hankinson, North Dakota, a special presentation was held honoring Mark's Native ancestry and his contributions. Members of the Lakota Nation presented Mark with a hand-made ceremonial quilt. [1]