Mark Fredrick Farner (born September 29, 1948) is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lead guitarist for the hard rock band

Grand Funk Railroad Grand Funk Railroad (often shortened to Grand Funk) is an American rock band formed in 1968 in Flint, Michigan, by Mark Farner (vocals, guitar), Don Brewer (drums, vocals), and Mel Schacher (bass). The band achieved peak popularity and succes ...

, and later as a

contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...

ian.

Early life and career

Farner began his career in music by playing in

Terry Knight Terry Knight (born Richard Terrance Knapp; April 9, 1943 – November 1, 2004) was an American rock and roll music producer, promoter, singer, songwriter and radio personality, who enjoyed some success in radio, modest success as a singer, but ...

and The Pack (1965–1966), The Bossmen (1966–1967), The Pack (aka The Fabulous Pack) (1967–1968), before forming

with

Don Brewer Donald George Brewer (born September 3, 1948) is an American drummer and singer. He is the longest serving and only remaining original member of rock band Grand Funk Railroad. Early life Brewer was born in Flint, Michigan, on September 3, 19 ...

(drums) and

Mel Schacher Melvin George Schacher (born April 8, 1951) is an American musician who is the bassist of the hard rock band Grand Funk Railroad. Early career Schacher was born in Owosso, Michigan, and was raised in Flint, Michigan. He became interested in ...

(bass guitar) in 1969.

Craig Frost Craig Frost (born April 20, 1948 in Flint, Michigan) is the keyboardist for Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band. He is also known as keyboardist for 1970s hard rock band Grand Funk Railroad. He plays organ, synthesizers, and piano. Frost exp ...

(keyboards) joined the band in 1972. Farner has

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

ancestry from his maternal side.

With Grand Funk Railroad

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 "

I'm Your Captain (Closer to Home) "I'm Your Captain (Closer to Home)" is a 1970 song written by American musician Mark Farner and recorded by Grand Funk Railroad as the closing track to their album '' Closer to Home''. Ten minutes in duration, it is the band's longest studio recor ...

". He also wrote the 1975 hit " Bad Time", the last of the band's four singles to make the top 5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Post-Grand Funk Railroad

After Grand Funk initially disbanded in 1976, Farner released his self-titled debut solo album in 1977, and his second, ''No Frills'', in 1978 (both Atlantic Records). In 1981, Farner and Don Brewer launched a new Grand Funk line-up with bassist Dennis Bellinger and recorded two albums, '' Grand Funk Lives'' and '' What's Funk?'' Farner went solo again with 1988's ''Just Another Injustice'' on

Frontline Records Frontline Records was a Christian rock record label, founded in 1986 by James Kempner in Santa Ana, California. The label focused primarily on modern rock, rap, dance-pop and hip-hop. The label closed in the early 1990s, and then resurfaced in ...

. His third Frontline release was 1991's ''Some Kind of Wonderful'', which featured a revamped Jesus version of the Grand Funk classic of the same name. Farner became a

born again Christian Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sep ...

in the late 1980s and enjoyed success with the John Beland composition "Isn't it Amazing", which earned him a

Dove Award A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Awards ...

nomination and reached No. 2 on the

Contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...

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 Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

's Allstars, which also featured

Randy Bachman Randolph Charles Bachman (; born September 27, 1943) is a Canadian guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of the bands The Guess Who and Bachman–Turner Overdrive. Bachman recorded as a solo artist and was part of a num ...

John Entwistle John Alec Entwistle (9 October 194427 June 2002) was an English musician who was the bassist for the rock band The Who. Entwistle's music career spanned over four decades. Nicknamed "The Ox" and "Thunderfingers", he was the band's only member ...

Felix Cavaliere Felix Cavaliere (born November 29, 1942) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and keyboard player for the Young Rascals. Although he was a member of Joey Dee and the Starliters, known for ...

Billy Preston William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, during which he ba ...

, and Starr's son,

Zak Starkey Zak Richard Starkey (born 13 September 1965) is an English rock drummer who has performed and recorded with English rock band the Who since 1996. He is also the third drummer to have appeared with English rock band Oasis. In 2020, Starkey toure ...

. 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, Mark Farner's American Band, which plays a mixture of Grand Funk songs and Farner's solo offerings. Farner had a pacemaker installed October 22, 2012, having struggled with heart troubles for the previous eight years. Mark Farner was voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 2015. He had previously been inducted as a member of both Grand Funk Railroad and Terry Knight & The Pack.

Other interests

Farner was honored with the Lakota

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...

Elders Honor Mark in 1999. During the concert in

Hankinson, North Dakota Hankinson is a city in Richland County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 921 at the 2020 census. Hankinson was founded in 1886. It is part of the Wahpeton, ND– MN Micropolitan Statistical Area. History A post office has been ...

, a special presentation was held honoring Mark's

Native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

ancestry and his contributions. Members of the Lakota Nation presented him with a hand-made ceremonial

quilt A quilt is a multi-layered textile, traditionally composed of two or more layers of fabric or fiber. Commonly three layers are used with a filler material. These layers traditionally include a woven cloth top, a layer of batting or wadding, a ...

. He has also been honored with the Cherokee Medal of Honor by the

Honor Society. An authorized biography of Farner, entitled ''From Grand Funk to Grace'', was published in 2001.

In popular culture

Mark Farner is mentioned by Homer Simpson in ''The Simpsons'' episode, "Homerpalooza", in season 7, episode 24 of the series. As Homer drives his children and their friends to school, Grand Funk is on the car radio. The children do not like it and ask him to change the station when he responds, "you kids don't know Grand Funk? The wild, shirtless lyrics of Mark Farner. The bong-rattling bass of Mel Schacher. The competent drum work of Don Brewer?" Mark Farner was mentioned in episode 9 of season 8 of the HBO comedy series ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' is an American television sitcom produced and broadcast by HBO since October 15, 2000, and created by Larry David, who stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself. It follows David's life as a semi-retired televisio ...

'' in September 2011.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Mark Farner'', 1977 * ''No Frills'', 1978 * ''Just Another Injustice'', 1988 * ''Wake Up...'', 1989 * ''Some Kind of Wonderful'', 1991 * ''For the People'', 2006

With Grand Funk Railroad

*''

On Time ''On Time'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Grand Funk Railroad. The album was released on August 25, 1969, by Capitol Records. Recorded at Cleveland Recording Company, the album was produced by Terry Knight. "Time Machine", th ...

'' (1969) *'' Grand Funk'' (1969) *''

Closer to Home ''Closer to Home'' is the third studio album by American rock band Grand Funk Railroad. The album was released on June 15, 1970, by Capitol Records. Recorded at Cleveland Recording Company, the album was produced by Terry Knight. This album re ...

'' (1970) *''

Live Album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

'' (1970) *''

Survival Survival, or the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things (or, hypotheti ...

'' (1971) *'' E Pluribus Funk'' (1971) *''

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

'' (1972) *''

We're an American Band ''We're an American Band'' is the seventh studio album by American hard rock band Grand Funk Railroad, credited as Grand Funk. The album was released by Capitol Records on July 15, 1973 (see 1973 in music) and was certified gold by the RIAA ...

'' (1973) *'' Shinin' On'' (1974) *''

All the Girls in the World Beware!!! ''All the Girls in the World Beware!!!'' is the ninth studio album by American hard rock band Grand Funk Railroad. The album was released by Capitol Records in December 1974 and was the group's second album released that year. The first single fr ...

'' (1974) *'' Caught in the Act'' (1975) *'' Born to Die'' (1976) *'' Good Singin', Good Playin''' (1976) *'' Grand Funk Lives'' (1981) *'' What's Funk?'' (1983) *''Bosnia'' (1996)

Other albums

* ''Closer to Home'', 1992 (best-of) * ''Heirlooms: The Complete Atlantic Sessions'', 2000 (re-release of Farner's two first studio albums) * ''Red White and Blue Forever'', 2002 (mini-album) * ''Live!! N'rG'', 2003 * ''Mark Farner the Rock Patriot'', March 9, 2003, Live Extended Versions

References

External links

*
2008 Mark Farner interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farner, Mark 1948 births Living people American people of Cherokee descent American performers of Christian music American rock guitarists American male guitarists American rock singers American male singer-songwriters American rock songwriters Grand Funk Railroad members Lead guitarists Musicians from Flint, Michigan Singer-songwriters from Michigan Guitarists from Michigan 20th-century American guitarists Terry Knight and the Pack members 20th-century American male musicians Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band members