Mark Holden Sings again!
The iconic pop star is staging a comeback after a life-changing health scare writes CRAIG BENNETT
Former ’70s pop icon turned Australian Idol judge Mark Holden is brimming with excitement on the eve of his comeback after a cancer scare.
“I lost about 80 per cent of my singing voice after surgery and intensive radiation for thyroid cancer in 2010. So to be singing again is a miracle,” reveals Mark as he welcomes Woman’s Day into his Melbourne home.
Mark’s cancer ordeal began in 2009, when he discovered a lump on his neck.
“It was initially thought to be a harmless cyst. After a second opinion, I was shocked to be diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
“The surgery and radiation knocked me around. My strong speaking voice had been reduced to a whisper following the op, and I was very quiet for months,” the 62-year-old singer admits.
The dreaded disease has run in Mark’s family: his beloved dad Ron died of prostate cancer at 61, while his sister Jennifer survived breast cancer before tragically succumbing to pancreatic cancer in 2011, also aged just 61.
“Jennifer’s death was the most painful and shocking time of my life. We were so close,” tells Mark.
“My beautiful wife Anna, our daughter Katie, my son Cane [from a previous relationship] and my brother Craig were towers of strength,” Mark says of dealing with his sister’s death and his own diagnosis.
Once his speaking voice began to return, Mark was horrified to discover he could barely sing and feared his career would be over.
Luckily, his road to recovery came about thanks to his friend Dr Jonathon Welch. The former musical theatre star and voice teacher is also the founder of the School of Hard Knocks – a choir that is both a fundraising initiative and a group encouraging those who’ve suffered cancer to find their voice again.
Jonathon worked with Mark, and through persistence, his singing voice gradually began to return. However, Mark says his voice is now vastly different – he’s lost some of his high range.
Adelaide-born Mark’s life has been a non-stop rollercoaster. A professional singer from his early teens, after appearing on The Ernie Sigley Show in 1972 he signed a record deal and became an overnight pop sensation as “The Carnation Kid”.
“My gimmick was giving red carnations to the pretty girls. I had a string of hit songs and I was the Justin Bieber of the day – minus the scandals!” says Mark.
Next came acting, with a stint as hunky Dr Greg Mason in the TV soapie The Young Doctors.
Hungry for a fresh start, Mark headed to Los Angeles in 1980, trading singing for songwriting.
“I wrote about 500 songs and became a record producer, working with some of the best, from The Temptations and Fleetwood Mac, to Belinda Carlisle and Donnie Osmond.
“There were pinch-yourself moments. Once I inadvertently insulted Elton John, and never heard from him again!
“I produced four of David Hasselhoff’s albums,” he adds. “We became great friends.”
Mark met “the love of his life”, wife Anna, now 57, at a club in LA.
“Anna and I were together for 10 years before marrying in 1992,” he says.
‘I was the Justin Bieber of the day – minus the scandals!’
“We always laugh when reliving the craziness of our wedding day.
“We arrived so late we missed our slot at the registry office but eventually found another minister to marry us!”
The Holdens moved to Australia after their daughter Katie was born in 1995. Since his return, Mark has enjoyed many showbiz “touchdowns”, helping to establish Vanessa Amorosi’s career and writing songs for Delta Goodrem, among others, though he’s best known for his time as a judge on Australian Idol.
“I loved [the show], and was saddened to be fired in 2008,” he admits. “I had two years to go on my contract, so they paid me out. I kept a diary, and coming out this May will be a book, My Idol Years.”
Mark then went on to complete his law degree and has been a barrister for the past eight years, calling his career change unfinished business.
“I started out studying law, which was derailed when I signed my first record deal,” he smiles.
Now his health is back on track, the future is bright and he can’t wait.