Mark Dinning

Max Edward Dinning (August 17, 1933 — March 22, 1986) — stage name Mark Dinning — was an American pop music singer. In February 1960, the song "Teen Angel", written by his sister Jean (Eugenia) (March 29, 1924 — February 22, 2011) and her husband (Mark's brother-in-law) Red Surrey, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Charts. Jean and two of her sisters, Virginia and Lucille, comprised "The Dinning Sisters", a popular singing trio in the 1940s. Additionally, Dinning is the uncle of Dean Dinning, bass guitarist for alternative rock band Toad the Wet Sprocket.

Max Edward Dinning was born in Manchester, Oklahoma, the youngest of nine children, and was raised on a farm near Nashville, Tennessee after his family relocated from Kansas. He followed his sisters and pursued a career in country music and, in 1957, record producer Wesley Rose signed him to a recording contract as Mark Dinning.

His recording efforts met with limited success until 1959, when "Teen Angel" became a hit. The lyrics, which told of the death of a teenage girl, were deemed by British radio stations to be too morbid to be aired, but it reached #37 on the UK Singles Chart. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.

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