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Kenny Marks
Kenny Marks
Birth name	Kenneth Michael Marks
Born	November 6, 1950; Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Origin	Nashville, Tennessee
Died	October 31, 2018 (aged 67)
Genres	Contemporary Christian
Occupation(s)	Musician, singer, songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1982–2018
Labels	Myrrh, DaySpring, Word, Tranquility
Website	kennymarks.com

Kenneth Michael Marks (November 6, 1950 – October 31, 2018) was an American Christian singer.

Early life and education

Marks' father Mirko “Michael” Mrakovic and mother Ljubica “Lucy” Vukic were from Yugoslavia. His parents changed their surname Mrakovic to Marks three months before he was born. Mirko was born in what is now Croatia in 1922 and he first moved to Canada before living in the U.S. ^[1] Growing up in Detroit, Marks studied classical piano and learned to play guitar at age 13.^[2] He graduated from Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania west of Philadelphia in 1971.^[3] While in college he was the drummer in a contemporary Christian group, the Fellowship.^{[not verified in body]}

Career

Marks began performing for Billy Graham's Afterglow Concert Series.^[3] In 1981 Marks participated in a project called "Premiere Performance" run by Myrrh Records. His song was on an album with songs by various artists and an invitation for buyers to vote for their favorite who would be offered a full contract with the Christian recording label. Marks was the fans choice.^[4]

Marks' first album Follow Him was released on Myrrh Records in 1982. With his second album 1984's Right Where You Are, he began to find his own definitive style as an artist and wanting to sing about relationships. In the 1990s, he became a host on the Nashville based Shop at Home TV Network.^[3]^[5]

Music

Jeannie and Johnny, a fictitious Franklin High School couple created by Marks, appear on his albums Attitude (1985) and Make It Right (1987). In the song, "Growing Up Too Fast" they are two individual kids dealing separately with emotions and impulses. In "The Party's Over, they meet at a party and get together in the back seat of Johnny's car, resulting in a pregnancy which robs them of their carefree teenage lifestyle.

On the album Another Friday Night, with the song, "Next Time You See Johnny", Johnny has left Jeannie with their son, who is old enough to hurt over Daddy's leaving, and innocent enough to hold forgiveness in his heart for Johnny. "Fire of Forgiveness" is the fourth and final song, a reflection of Johnny looking back on his life.^[1] Another song "Friends", was the theme song for the dramatic segment on the series Fire by Nite called "Friends".^{[citation needed]} The song "Say a Prayer for Me Tonight" reflects on a true story when a young man named Richard talked to Marks after a concert in Philadelphia on his Make It Right tour and asked Marks to pray for him and then shared some songs he had written. Three weeks later Marks learned that Richard had committed suicide.^[2]

"White Dress", which began as a song for Marks' daughter Allegra on her first birthday, is the story of a girl growing up abandoned by her father who becomes a mother.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Marks was married to Pamela Marks for twenty-four years; she co-wrote some of his songs. They divorced in 1997.^[2]

Marks died of a heart attack on October 31, 2018.^[6]

Discography

Follow Him 1982
Right Where You Are 1984
Attitude 1986
Make It Right 1987
Another Friday Night 1990
Fire of Forgiveness 1992
Absolutely Positively 1994
World Gone Mad 1995
Best That I Can 2015

References

^ ^a ^b Vink, Jan Willem (November 1, 1990). "Kenny Marks: The Detroit born pop rocker making a mark in Nashville". Cross Rhythms Magazine.
^ ^a ^b ^c Jerry Bryant (October 25, 2013). "Full Circle Classic Jesus Music". podcastchart.com (Podcast). Archived from the original on August 8, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c Brothers, Jeffrey Lee (2003). Hot Hits: Ac Charts 1978-2001. 1stBooks Library. ISBN 1-4107-3294-0.
^ Cummings, Tony (January 18, 2012). "Dobie Gray: The "Drift Away" man on the "Last Train To Glory"". Cross Rhythms Magazine.
^ Wolfson, Hannah (December 27, 1998). "Male-order shopping". Herald-Journal.
^ "Gospelzanger Kenny Marks (67) overleden" (in Dutch). Groot Nieuws Radio. November 1, 2018. Retrieved November 1, 2018.