Happy Birthday Mark Fredrick Farner (born September 29, 1948 in Flint, Michigan) is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lead guitarist for Grand Funk Railroad, and later as a contemporary Christian musician. Early life and career Farner began his career in music by playing in 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 (drums) and Mel Schacher (bass guitar) in 1968.[citation needed] Craig Frost (keyboards) joined the band in 1973. Farner has Cherokee ancestry from his maternal side.[1] With Grand Funk Farner was the guitarist and lead singer for Grand Funk Railroad as well as the songwriter for most of their material. His best known composition is the 1970 epic Im Your Captain (Closer to Home).[2] Grand Funks Were An American Band reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 on Marks 25th birthday on September 29, 1973.[citation needed] Post-Grand Funk After Grand Funk initially disbanded in 1976, Farner released his first self-titled solo album in 1977, and his second, No Frills, in 1978 (both Atlantic Records).[citation needed] In 1981, Farner and Don Brewer launched a new Grand Funk line-up and recorded two albums, Grand Funk Lives and Whats Funk?.[citation needed] Farner went solo again with 1988s Just Another Injustice on Frontline Records.[citation needed] His third Frontline release was 1991s 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 Isnt it Amazing, which earned him a Dove Award nomination and reached No. 2 on the Contemporary Christian music charts.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] Farner toured with Ringo Starrs Allstars from 1994 to 1995, which also featured Randy Bachman, John Entwistle, Felix Cavaliere, Billy Preston, and Starrs son, Zak Starkey.[citation needed] 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 songs and Farners solo offerings.[citation needed] Farner had a pacemaker installed 22 October 2012. He had suffered with heart troubles for the last eight years.[3] Other interests Farner was honored with the Lakota Sioux Elders Honor Mark in 1999. During the concert in Hankinson, North Dakota, a special presentation was held honoring Marks Native ancestry and his contributions. Members of the Lakota Nation presented him with a hand-made ceremonial quilt.[4] He has also been honored with the Cherokee Medal of Honor by the Cherokee Honor Society.[5] An authorized biography of Farner, entitled From Grand Funk to Grace, was published in 2001.[6] In popular culture Mark Farner was mentioned in episode 9 of season 8 of the HBO comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm in September 2011. Read more: answers/topic/mark-farner#ixzz3EgfMRJU4
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 07:25:03 +0000
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