At the age of 20, Mark Farner found fame and success as the leader of one of America's most successful rock bands, Grand Funk Railroad. In total, Mark recorded 17 albums with Grand Funk for sales of more than 25 million records worldwide.
As a teenager, Mark worked his way through various bands until he became a member of Terry Knight and the Pack, and then just The Pack (with future Grand Funk drummer Don Brewer). Bassist Mel Schacher was invited to join and the power trio Grand Funk Railroad (named after the Grand Trunk Railroad in Michigan) was born.
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Mark's big break would be at the Atlanta International Pop Festival in July 1969, playing before 180,000 people. Following that successful start, the band was signed by Capitol Records.
Hit albums and singles lead up to 1971, where Mark and the band set the attendance record for a concert at New York's Shea Stadium, surpassing the record set by The Beatles in 1966, a record that still stands today.
In early 1977, Grand Funk Railroad called it quits, and after taking a year or so off, Mark Farner signed a solo deal with Atlantic Records and issued two critically acclaimed albums: Mark Farner and No Frills.
In 1981, Grand Funk Railroad reformed and released two albums. Mark released four contemporary Christian albums from 1983 through 1994, earning a Dove nomination and reaching the number 2 chart position with "Isn't It Amazing".
In 1995, Mark toured with Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band, then toured with The Northwest Airlines All-Stars in 1996. The original Grand Funk Railroad reunited and toured in 1996, 1997 and 1998 and was named to Pollstar's Top 100 Tours of 1998. VH-1's "Behind The Music" on Grand Funk Railroad has been airing since early 1999 and is one of the show's most watched episodes.
Today, Mark is still recording and traveling the world, fronting his own band, N'rG, continuing the legend begun with Grand Funk Railroad!
