Mark Farner
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Mark Farner (born September 29, 1948 in Flint, Michigan) is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known as the leader of Grand Funk Railroad, and later 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 in 1969.
After Grand Funk disbanded in 1977, Farner released his first self titled solo project the following year. In 1978, Farner released No Frills.
In 1981, Grand Funk reunited to record a brand new album, Grand Funk Lives for Warner Brothers Records, and What's Funk which was released the following year.
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 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.
In the late 1990s, Farner reunited with Grand Funk for a tour. Petty jealousies and drug abuse by one of his bandmates led Farner to leave the band and continue his solo career. [Note: This should read "alleged drug abuse," as this allegation has never been proven. The bad blood created by the allegation, along with the "petty jealousies" noted, did indeed derail what could have been a lucrative and satisfying Grand Funk Railroad reunion.] His current band, N'rG, continues to thrill crowds with its authentic Grand Funk sound.
An authorized biography of Farner, entitled From Grand Funk to Grace, was published in 2002 by Collectors Guide Publishing in Canada.
Discography
- Mark Farner, 1978
- No Frills, 1979
- Just Another Injustice, 1988
- Wake Up, 1989
- Some Kind of Wonderful, 1991
- Closer to Home, 1992
- Heirlooms, 2000
- Red White and Blue Forever, 2002
- Live!! N'rG, 2003
- For The People, 2006'''
External links
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