At the early age of 17, Mark Sweeney was the frontman of a band called "STAYN". In time, Sweeney realized that just "screaming" lyrics were not what music was all about, so he took classical vocal lessons from an opera singer.
After four years of intensive education, Mark Sweeney switched to the famous vocal teacher from Lucerne, Andy Portmann. After years of hard work and dedication, he became the rock singer he is today.
In 1995, the shouter joined the band "CHERRY PIE", and hit the road with cover tunes. CHERRY PIE'S repertoire ranged from BON JOVI to METALLICA. Doing countless gigs, national and interna¬tional, Sweeney gained further attention and established himself as a rock singer. After a TV-show on the German channel Pro 7, his band got a record deal in 1998 and CHERRY PIE became "CRYSTAL BALL." With a new name and the same extraordinary musicians, the band rocked on, dropping cover songs while writing their own original material. Another record followed; it was released in Europe and Asia. CRYSTAL BALL was signed by the world's leading hard rock/metal label, NUCLEAR BLAST (NIGHT¬WISH etc.).
CRYSTAL BALL released three albums with this label and performed approximately 500 shows throughout 10 countries. European tours with PRETTY MAIDS, DOKKEN, DORO, U.D.O., AXXIS and Swiss colleagues from KROKUS and GOTTHARD followed. CRYSTAL BALL led their first European headliner tour with label mates, THUNDERSTONE at the end of 2005.
With recognition and merit from good reviews, countless radio and TV-appearances, airplay-charts in Japan, hitting the charts in Switzerland, top rankings in famous magazines and several "Album of the Month" awards, Mark Sweeney became a demanded producer and executive producer while contributing to several other records as background-singer. Mark made himself a name as a guest singer when he toured with the ex-KISS member Bruce Kulick.
The boys, meanwhile, a four-man band, got the attention from the smashing label AFM, who in 2007 released their successful album "Secrets". That same year, Mark Sweeney released his first solo record "Slow Food" with Pie Music Records. Mark showed another side of him and surprised the listeners with soothing and emotional songs. The critiques on this album were astonishing, noteworthy and magnificent.
Mark Sweeney does it again for 2010 with new "ALL IN."