David Lee Marks was born on 22 August 1948, in California USA, and is a guitarist, singer and songwriter, best known for being a member of the rock band The Beach Boys.
So just how rich is David Marks now? According to sources, Marks has established a fortune of over $20 million, as of early 2017. The main source of his wealth has been his music career which began in the early 1960s.
David Marks Net Worth $20 Million
Growing up in Hawthorne, California, across the street from the Wilson family, Marks befriended the Wilson brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl in his teenage years. The brothers sang and played together as a garage band called The Beach Boys, managed by their father Murry, and Marks occasionally performed with them. After he got a guitar as a Christmas gift from his parents, he took lessons from John Maus (later John Walker of the Walker Brothers). He and Carl quickly developed their own unique style of playing guitars, which impressed Carl’s older brother Brian, who was re-forming the band at the time, trying to attract a major label.
In 1961 the band released their single “Surfin'”, earning their first taste of fame, as the song became a great radio hit. Marks, however, was not part of it, as he didn’t officially join The Beach Boys until 1962, aged 13, as the band’s rhythm guitarist, becoming one of the signatories on its recording contract with Capitol Records. He went on to spend the next two years performing with the band, on their first four studio albums and their early hits such as “Surfin Safari”, “Surfin USA”, “409”, “Shut Down”, “In My Room”, “Surfer Girl” and “Be True to Your School”, as well as on numerous tours and concerts. This enabled him to achieve a high level of popularity, and to earn a sizable net worth. However, after an argument with Murry Wilson, Marks left The Beach Boys in 1963.
That year, he took over a friend’s garage band, The Jaguars, renaming them as The Marksmen. The band went on to sign with Herb Alpert’s A&M Records, and then with Warner Bros. Records, releasing one single. However, despite their regional success of packing concert venues all around California, the group disbanded in 1965.
The following year Marks played with Casey Kasem’s Band Without a Name, and later with bands and artists such as The Moon, Delaney and Bonnie, Colours and Warren Zevon. In the late ’60s, he moved to Boston to study jazz and classical guitar as a private student at the Berklee College of Music, and the New England Conservatory of Music.
After turning down The Beach Boys’ offer to rejoin them, Marks went on to become a studio musician, and played with various artists, such as Buzz Clifford, Gary Busey, Carl Radle, Warren Zevon, Jim Keltner, Leon Russell and Delbert McClinton, to name a few, reinforcing his status as a renowned musician, and improving his wealth.
He reunited with The Beach Boys in 1997, after cancer had sidelined Carl Wilson. However, he was forced to leave the band in 1999, due to suffering from hepatitis C. He became part of the band again in 2012, for a new album and a great reunion tour, and has since made a few albums and appearances with some members of The Beach Boys.
Aside from his career in music, Marks has also written an autobiography. The 2007 book entitled “The Lost Beach Boy”, co-written with Beach Boys historian Jon Stebbins, covers his life and career with and without The Beach Boys.
When it comes to his personal life, Marks is married to Carrieann Haight, with whom he has one child.
