Mark Holden

Mark Ronald Holden (born 27 April 1954) is an Australian singer, actor, TV personality, record producer, songwriter, and barrister. He was a pop star in the 1970s and had four top 20 hit singles, "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" (May 1976), "I Wanna Make You My Lady" (September), "Last Romance" (November) and "Reach Out for the One Who Loves You" (October 1977). Holden regularly appeared on national pop music show, Countdown. Holden is remembered for his clean-cut image, his white dinner suit and his penchant for handing out carnations to girls on the set of the popular television show Countdown – he was nicknamed "The Carnation Kid". In the 1980s he worked as a songwriter in Los Angeles providing material recorded by Meat Loaf, Joe Cocker, Gladys Knight, Bob Welch and Steve Jones. He was one of three original judges on the television series Australian Idol (2003–07) and the first season (2005) of The X Factor.

Biography

Early years

Mark Ronald Holden was born on 27 April 1954 to Helen (née King) and Ron Holden at Calvary Hospital, North Adelaide. His father's family were involved with the Holden and Sloggetts Travelling Circus; although Ron became an architect and Helen was a teacher.

In the mid-1960s, Holden became involved in music after inheriting a guitar from his older brother Craig. Holden attended Westminster School in Adelaide and formed a school band. Holden began writing songs and took classical vocal lessons with Lewis Dawe. In a 2010 interview with the ABC, Holden said the band was encouraged; "I remember we were given a room under a stairwell to rehearse our band."

In April 1976, Holden released a cover of Eric Carmen's "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again". The song became a hit peaking at number 13 on the Australian Kent Music Report. He released "I Wanna Make You My Lady" in August and "Last Romance" in November, which both peaked at number 11. Holden issued his second studio album, Let Me Love You. At the TV Week King of Pop Awards of 1976 he won Most Popular New Talent.

In 1977, he starred in Blue Fire Lady and Newsfront and Reach for the Stars and Case for the Defence in 1978.

At the Logie Awards of 1977, Holden won Most Popular Australian TV Teenage Personality and the George Wallace Memorial Logie for Best New Talent. He won Most Popular Australian TV Teenage Personality in 1978 also.

1979–1983: Music in Los Angeles

In 1979, Holden relocated to Los Angeles and signed with American label Scotti Brothers Records. His first release on this label was "Stay" which he co-wrote with Gloria Sklerov. The song didn't chart but was covered by John Schneider on his 1981 album, Now or Never. Mark recorded "Scintillating Lady" which he co-wrote with Roger Atkins, and was due to launch his American career with a performance of the song live on CBS; however, just before the performance, his wisdom teeth needed removing and he sang the song though pain and a swollen mouth. The song was poorly received and not released. Holden and Scotti Brothers Records parted ways. There were also hits with Tracie Spencer, Joey Lawrence, Will Downing, a #1 dance hit with Kathy Sledge, and over 50 cover recordings of his songs from artists as varied as Belinda Carlisle, Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols, The Manhattans, Donny Osmond, José Feliciano, Fleetwood Mac, David Hasselhoff, Scarlett and Black and Branford Marsalis. He also developed and produced artists including model and actress Milla Jovovich (The 5th Element), for EMI Records Group, New York. This led to her debut album; a US Top Ten Post Modern hit, it won critical raves including a 3-star review in Rolling Stone magazine. Jeremy Jackson, the actor who played David Hasselhoff's son on Baywatch, was signed to Mark Holden's production company and had two hits in Europe including "You Can Run" which was Top 5 in the Netherlands.

In 1995, Holden's second child Katie was born. Amid the rising violence in Los Angeles in the early 1990s, Holden and his partner Anna decided to move back to Australia in September 1996. At the APRA Music Awards of 2001, Amorosi's "Shine" won Most Performed Australian Work, in which Holden co-wrote. Strom and Holden formed MarJac Productions and wrote songs and helped launch careers of Delta Goodrem, Nikki Webster and Sophie Monk.

In 1999, Mark's family group, The Holdens, released the EP A Tribute to Tex Morton. The album featured songs made famous by the legendary country singer Tex Morton. Also in 1999, Holden performed his show "100 Years of Australian Music" at the School of Arts Café in Queanbeyan and hosted the Silver Jubilee edition of Countdown. In 2002, Holden was honoured by This is Your Life.

In 2003, Holden was a judge on the inaugural season Australian Idol, where he remained for five seasons until 2007. Holden executive-produced the "Final 12" cast CD for Australian Idol which went double platinum and included the song "Rise Up" which he co-wrote with Vanessa Amorosi and peaked at number 1 on the ARIA Charts. His phrase "Touchdown" became the highest form of accolade for the contestants. Cosima De Vito received the first touchdown, for her rendition of Cold Chisel's "When the War Is Over". In 2003, Holden appeared in cameo acting roles on Kath & Kim.

In 2004 Holden signed and managed Joel Turner, a beat-boxer from Idol. Credited to Joel Turner and the Modern Day Poets, their first single "These Kids" reached #1 on the ARIA Charts and achieved double platinum status. Their self-titled album was released in late 2004 was also certified platinum. In 2004, Holden recorded a live DVD titled Live at the George Ballroom. The DVD was produced by Drew Thompson and released in 2005 as a DVD + CD through Thompson Music.

In 2005, Holden appeared as a judge on the first season of The X Factor, along with John Reid and Kate Ceberano. The R&B group he mentored during the show, Random, went on to win, becoming the first group anywhere in the world to do so, then later got replaced by Guy Sebastian.

On 14 June 2005 Holden was one of the guest hosts that stood in for Bert Newton on morning program Good Morning Australia (GMA). Both Australian Idol and GMA aired on Network Ten.

By late 2005, Amorosi ended her 7-year contract with MarJac and signed with Ralph Carr Management, Sony BMG were in dispute with Holden regarding Delta Goodrem and Turner had requested to cease his contract with MarJac, involving Holden in a legal dispute to being 2006. Holden received 4 out of 40 (the lowest score possible) and was voted out of the show.

Holden subsequently apologised for his behaviour saying "I want to apologise to everyone I've offended, I want to apologise to Channel Seven, to all the contestants on DWTS, and to the judges."

Following the Bobo incident, Holden self-released Holden Brothers Travelling Circus on CD/DVD in December 2014.

In May 2017, Holden released his autobiography, titled, My Idol Years.

Holden produced Judith Durham's 2018 album, So Much More.

During the Adelaide Cabaret Festival in June 2018 Holden said "I'm about to do a limited release of a CD called Mark Holden – The Lost '80s Album. It's a collection of songs I recorded in the '80s when I was a journeyman songwriter in LA. Looking back on all those songs and recordings I was rewriting the same song over and over again centred on my relationship with my now wife and the ultimate conception and birth of our now 22-year-old daughter Katie."

Throughout 2026, Holden five of Holden's released will be re-released following an agreement between Holden's own Dream Dealers label and MGM Distribution. The first was A Tribute to Tex Morton in January, followed by Live At The George Ballroom in April.

Personal life

Holden became a father at the age of 20. His son Cane was born in 1974. Holden's second child Katie was born in 1995.

Holden graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Adelaide in 2001, which he completed externally at Monash University. He was close to completing the degree in 1974 when his music career took off. In November 2009 he signed the Victorian Bar roll, reading with barrister William Lye, and is now practising full-time at the Victorian Bar.

He has suffered several bone fractures as a direct result of osteoporosis, and featured on an awareness ad on Channel 7. He also suffered from thyroid cancer in 2010. In September 2015 he announced that his cancer had returned.

He is a long-time supporter of the Adelaide Football Club, and was made an ambassador of the club in 2006. Holden is an ambassador of Blue September, an organisation supporting men with cancer.

Discography

Studio albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

|+ List of studio albums, with selected chart positions and certifications

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:12em;" | Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:20em;" | Album details

! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:10em;" | Certifications

! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" | AUS

Format: CD
Label: Dream Dealers Pty Ltd

Extended play

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

|+ List of Extended play, with selected details

! scope="col" rowspan="1" style="width:12em;" | Title

! scope="col" rowspan="1" style="width:16em;" | Album details

! scope="row" | A Tribute to Tex Morton (credited to The Holdens)

Released: 1999 January 2026 (re-release)
Format: CD, digital
Label: The Holdens, Dream Dealers/MGM

! scope="row" | Live at the George Ballroom

Released: September 2005 April 2026 (re-release)
Format: DVD + digital
Label: Thompson Music, Dream Dealers/MGM

! scope="row" | Brother 2 Brother (credited as Mark and Craig Holden)

Released: February 2017
Format: digital
Label: Dream Dealers/MGM

Singles

{| class="wikitable"

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Single

!| Chart Positions

! rowspan="2"| Album

! AUS

|rowspan="3"|1976

|Never Gonna Fall in Love Again

| style="text-align:center;"|13

|rowspan="3"|Let Me Love You

|I Wanna Make You My Lady

| style="text-align:center;"|11

|Last Romance

| style="text-align:center;"|11

|rowspan="3"|1977

|Hey, My Love

| style="text-align:center;"|32

|Reach Out for the One Who Loves You

| style="text-align:center;"|17

|rowspan="3"|Encounter

|Let's Go Dancing