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Mark Wills (Born Daryl Mark Williams on August 8th, 1973) is an American country singer.

Born in Cleveland, Tennessee, he first came to prominence in 1996, when the song "Jacob's Ladder" off his debut album peaked at number 6 on the Country Music charts. His follow up album "Wish You Were Here" produced two big singles. The lead-off track "I Do (Cherish You)" and "Don't Laugh At Me" both went to number 2 on the charts. In 1998, he had his first #1 with "Wish You Were Here".

His career cooled over the next few years, his biggest hit being a Covered Up version of Brian McKnight's "Back at One"

Then 2002 rolled around, and Wills finally reached Number 1 status with the hit single "19 Somethin'".

Wills has released several albums since, but hasn't repeated a number 1 hit.

Discography

  • Mark Wills(1996)
  • Wish You Were Here(1998)
  • Permanently(2000)
  • Loving Every Minute(2001)
  • Greatest Hit(2002)
  • And the Crowd Goes Wild(2003)
  • Familiar Stranger(2008)
  • Looking For America(2011)

Tropes present in his work:

  • Dating What Daddy Hates: Rachel, the wealthy female lead in "Jacob's Ladder", is dating Jacob, whom Rachel's dad does not approve of due to his lower class. Jacob then sneaks into Rachel's room every night and is eventually caught climbing the title ladder to her window. The dad becomes angry at first, but reconciles when the couple have a child.
  • Dual-Meaning Chorus: "Wish You Were Here". The first instance refers to a typical postcard greeting; the second refers to Heaven after the sender of the postcard dies in a plane crash.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Present in "She's in Love":
    Told everyone I'm doing fine
    Learned to get on with my life
    I just want what's best for her
    So I lied
  • I Was Quite a Fashion Victim: The chorus to "19 Somethin'" brings this up: "Lookin' back now, I can see me / Oh man, did I look cheesy."
  • Loudness War: "Take It All Out on Me" clips horribly in the first verse.
  • Moral Guardians: "Hank" was quickly pulled as a single due to objections over the line "Made a long-haired pot-smokin' hippy wanna sing along".
  • Morality Ballad: "Don't Laugh at Me" is about having empathy for social outcasts.
  • Saw "Star Wars" Twenty-Seven Times: Well, just eight times, according to "19 Somethin'".
  • Self-Backing Vocalist: He sings all the vocals on "She's in Love".
  • Spoken Word in Music: "And the Crowd Goes Wild" features sports commentary by George Plaster before the final chorus.
  • Tick Tock Tune: "Loving Every Minute" has a synthesized tick-tock effect during the opening and final chorus.
  • Unintentional Final Message: "Wish You Were Here"

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