Instruments Piano Name Mark Mueller | Role Songwriter | |
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Occupation(s) Songwriter, lyricist, writer, television producer Albums Quiet Time Massage, Celtic Quest, Romantic Piano, Latin Romance Genres Pop music, Rock music, Rhythm and blues Nominations Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics Similar People Aaron Zigman, Craig Safan, Michael Omartian, Bruce Broughton, Glen A Larson | ||
Mark Mueller - "On the Line"
Mark Mueller is an American songwriter whose career spans pop music, rock, R&B, television, film and stage. A two-time winner of the ASCAP Pop Award for writing one of the Most Performed Songs of the year, he’s had three Billboard Hot 100 Top Ten singles and one #1 Adult Contemporary hit. Songs he has written have been featured on RIAA-certified gold and platinum records in four consecutive decades: the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s; and have been on the Billboard Top 10 charts for 30 years (1986 to 2016).
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For his work in television, Mueller is the recipient of two Emmy nominations, both in the category of Outstanding Achievement in Music and Lyrics. Mueller wrote the words and music for the theme songs of both the original Disney's DuckTales and Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers animated TV series as well as the 2017 DuckTales reboot. Born in the Bay Area, he now lives and works in Los Angeles, California.
Chart History
"Crush", recorded by Jennifer Paige, was #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart for 4 weeks (and was covered by Lea Michele in the first season of Fox TV's Glee). It spent 17 weeks in the Top 10 and 25 weeks overall on the chart. Crush" also reached the #2 position on the R&R CHR airplay chart.
Internationally, “Crush" was a #1 single in Canada, Spain, New Zealand and Australia. In the UK, “Crush" reached #1 on the airplay chart and #4 on the BPI singles chart, where it spent 3 weeks in the Top 10.
"Crush" peaked at #1 on the worldwide "United World Chart," where it held the top position for 2 weeks in November 1998, after spending 7 weeks at #2 behind Aerosmith's I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing. It was in the Top 10 for 17 weeks and was 1998's #8 song on the website's year-end chart, between Natalie Imbruglia's Torn and Cher's Believe.
In 2016, "Crush" returned to the Billboard Top 10 the week of May 21, 2016 when it reached #8 on the magazine's Smooth Jazz Airplay chart in a cover by jazz keyboardist John Novello. His version features R&B saxophone artist Gerald Albright on the chorus. As of the June 18, 2016 Chart, it had spent a total of 19 weeks in the Top 30. This cover version also peaked at #5 on the America's Music Chart Smooth Jazz chart the week of May 24, 2016.
In 2017, "Crush" was covered by YouTube star William Singe as his first single for RCA Records. Titled "Rush," to which Singe contributed new music and lyrics, the updated version had already been seen by 4.68 million YouTube viewers in its first month on the channel.
“That's What Love Is For" by Amy Grant was #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart for 3 weeks (13 weeks in the Top 10 and 32 weeks on the chart overall), reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (4 weeks in the Top 10) and peaked at #4 on the R&R CHR chart.
“Nothin' at All," by Heart (band) climbed to #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, spending 16 weeks on the chart overall. It was #6 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs for two weeks and stayed in the Top 10 for 4 weeks. Mueller wrote both words and music for the Pop/Rock smash.
Mueller’s Eternal (band) single “I Am Blessed" made the UK Top Ten on the BPI singles chart, peaking at #7 during its 3 weeks in the Top 10.
"Someone" performed by El DeBarge made the Top 20 Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and peaked at #20, where it spent two weeks. Overall, it stayed on the magazine's Adult Contemporary Chart for 13 weeks as well as 9 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. It was co-written with 2-time Grammy-winner Jay Graydon and singer Robbie Nevil.
Earth, Wind & Fire recorded "You & I," a single Mueller co-wrote with singer Robbie Nevil that was a Billboard R&B Chart Top 30 hit in 1987, reaching #29.
ABBA's Agnetha Faltskog recorded Mueller's "I Wasn't the One (Who Said Goodbye)", which was a Top 20 hit in 1988, reaching #19 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart. It was a duet with Peter Cetera, the former lead singer of the band Chicago. Co-written with Aaron Zigman, the song also spent time in the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #93.
George Benson's "No One Emotion," which Mueller co-wrote with Clif Magness, was released as a single in the UK in 1985 where it reached #76 on the Official British Pop Chart.
"Just Because I Love You" by Lina Santiago reached #27 on the Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 Chart hit in 1996. It also spent 8 weeks in the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #78.
Mueller's first Billboard chart hit was "I Don't Want To Be Lonely," performed by Dana Valery. It reached #23 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and spent 13 weeks on that chart and 5 weeks on the magazine's Hot 100.
Gold and platinum awards
Mueller’s work in the U.S. has been featured on RIAA-certified platinum and gold records by artists including: Heart (band), Amy Grant, 'N Sync featuring Justin Timberlake, Lea Michele (on the Glee: The Music, Volume 2 Soundtrack), Jennifer Paige, Earth, Wind & Fire, SWV, Al Jarreau, George Benson, Aaron Carter, El DeBarge, Agnetha Faltskog of ABBA, Peter Cetera, The Pointer Sisters (on the Billboard #1 “We Are the World (album)). His theme song for DuckTales is featured on the platinum-selling record The Music of Disney: A Legacy in Song.
Internationally, Mueller’s songs have been on the UK's BPI-certified platinum and gold records by artists including: Girls Aloud featuring Cheryl (entertainer) Cole, Eternal, Steps and Australia's ARIA-certified gold records including: Jennifer Paige, Lea Michele (Glee: The Music, Volume 2) and John Farnham of the Little River Band.
Television and film
Mueller received his two Emmy nominations for his work as a lyricist on the ABC-TV series Life Goes On and the NBC-TV series Quincy, M.E.. He wrote both words and music for the title song of Disney’s animated series DuckTales (performed by Jeff Pescetto) and Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (performed by Pescetto on the series and The Jets on the Disney Afternoon album). He also wrote the theme song for 1991 film The Little Engine That Could. Mueller co-wrote the title song and the script for a CBS-TV pilot he executive produced titled Shangri-La Plaza.
The DuckTales theme was played live on ABC-TV's "Dancing with the Stars" in September, 2016 on the second episode of the long-running hit series 23rd season, with a performance by the show's Season 20 champion Val Chmerkovskiy and Olympic Gold Medalist gymnast star Laurie Hernandez. Their dance was the top-ranked performance of the week and the couple went on to win the season.
“Crush," was featured on the "Ballad" episode of Fox-TV's Golden Globe-winning best comedy series Glee in 2009, when it was covered by show star Lea Michele. Her version of the song is also featured on the soundtrack album Glee: The Music, Volume 2, which peaked at #1 on the Billboard Soundtrack Chart, #3 on the Billboard Hot 200 Album Chart in December, 2009 and was certified as a gold record by the RIAA in January, 2010. "Crush" was also prominently used in a special TV-movie-length episode of ABC-TV's Sabrina, the Teenage Witch set in Rome.
Mark wrote words and music for the song "Babysitting Blues", which was performed by Oscar-nominated lead actress Elisabeth Shue, Blues legend Albert Collins and the cast of the film Adventures in Babysitting in famed Chicago-area nightclub Fitzgerald's. The scene was shot over the course of three days and takes place during a pivotal chase sequence in the movie.
For the NBC-TV musical comedy series Rags to Riches, Mueller wrote new comedic lyrics for existing hit songs from the '50s and '60s that were featured in most episodes of both seasons of the show. He also wrote the lyrics to the show's theme song.
Mueller co-wrote all songs featured in the original film musical "Berlin Blues," starring opera singer Julia Migenes, with four-time Grammy winner and six-time Oscar nominee Lalo Schifrin.
Mueller’s songs have been featured in films including: One Hour Photo, Pokémon: The First Movie, Money Talks, B*A*P*S, National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation, The Last Starfighter, Adventures in Babysitting, Simply Irresistible, The Legend of Billie Jean and Honey, I Blew Up The Kid.
Stage
Mueller wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the book of an original musical titled Butterfly, which was directed by Tony Award-winner Jack Hofsiss and performed at the Goodspeed Opera House. Bernadette Peters performed the song "The Next Dream" from the musical on the Carol Burnett TV variety show Carol & Company, which aired on NBC.
In 2016, Mueller began writing an original musical with Lesley Nicol, who most notably played Mrs. Patmore on TV's Emmy-, Golden Globe-, SAG Award- and BAFTA-winning acclaimed hit drama Downton Abbey for six seasons on the PBS series Masterpiece in the US and ITV in the UK, with an estimated audience of over 270 million viewers worldwide. The first performance was given in early 2017 at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Nicol's alma mater, followed by a show in Hong Kong at the city's famed Fringe Club.