Mark Heard released 16 records in his lifetime, and produced and performed with many other artists as well, such as Sam Phillips, Pierce Pettis, Phil Keaggy, Vigilantes of Love, Peter Buck of REM (who co-produced VOL's album Killing Floor with Heard) and Michael Been of The Call. Heard produced part of Olivia Newton-John's The Rumor, which also included a cover of Heard's own "Big and Strong".
On July 4, 1992, Heard suffered a heart attack on stage while performing with Pierce Pettis and Kate Miner, at the Cornerstone Festival, near Chicago, Illinois. Heard finished his set and went to the hospital immediately afterwards. Shortly after being released from the hospital two weeks later, Heard had a cardiac arrest and died in August of 1992.
In 1994, many well known artists came together to record a tribute album called Strong Hand of Love. Artists lending their talents to the project included Victoria Williams, Chagall Guevara, Buddy Miller and Julie Miller, Daniel Amos, The Choir, Rich Mullins, and Bruce Cockburn. The project was later reissued as a 2 CD set with additional tracks and retitled Orphans of God.
In 2003, Cornerstone Press, a company which is owned by the same people that organize the Cornerstone festival, published an authorized biography of Heard called Hammers and Nails. A collection of previously unreleased demos was also released by Paste Music under the same title.
Discography
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