Mark Mueller


Mark Mueller is an American songwriter. A two-time winner of the ASCAP Pop Award for writing one of the Most Performed Songs of the year, he has had three Billboard Hot 100 Top Ten singles and one #1 Adult Contemporary hit. Songs he has written have been featured on RIAA-certified gold and platinum records in four consecutive decades: the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s; and have been on the Billboard Top 10 charts for 30 years.
For his work in television, Mueller is the recipient of two Emmy nominations, both in the category of Outstanding Achievement in Music and Lyrics. Mueller wrote the words and music for the theme songs of both the original Disney's DuckTales and Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers animated TV series as well as the 2017 DuckTales reboot.
Mueller and his DuckTales theme song were the focus of a Vanity Fair magazine profile chronicling his pop music career and his experience writing the song. Born in the Bay Area, he now lives and works in Los Angeles, California.

Chart history

"Crush", recorded by Jennifer Paige, was #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart for 4 weeks. It spent 17 weeks in the Top 10 and 25 weeks overall on the chart. Crush" also reached the #2 position on the R&R CHR airplay chart.
Internationally, “Crush" was a #1 single in Canada, Spain, New Zealand and Australia. In the UK, “Crush" reached #1 on the airplay chart and #4 on the BPI singles chart, where it spent 3 weeks in the Top 10.
In 2016, "Crush" returned to the Billboard Top 10 when it reached #5 on the magazine's Smooth Jazz Airplay chart in a cover by jazz keyboardist John Novello. His version features R&B saxophone artist Gerald Albright on the chorus. It spent a total of 19 weeks in the Top 30.
“That's What Love Is For" by Amy Grant was #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart for 3 weeks, reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and peaked at #4 on the R&R CHR chart.
“Nothin' at All," by Heart climbed to #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, spending 16 weeks on the chart overall. It was #6 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs for two weeks and stayed in the Top 10 for 4 weeks. Mueller wrote both words and music for the Pop/Rock song.
Mueller’s Eternal single “I Am Blessed" made the UK Top Ten on the BPI singles chart, peaking at #7 during its 3 weeks in the Top 10.
"Someone" performed by El DeBarge made the Top 20 Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and peaked at #20, where it spent two weeks. Overall, it stayed on the magazine's Adult Contemporary Chart for 13 weeks as well as 9 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. It was co-written with 2-time Grammy-winner Jay Graydon and singer Robbie Nevil.
Earth, Wind & Fire recorded "You & I," a single Mueller co-wrote with singer Robbie Nevil that was a Billboard R&B Chart Top 30 hit in 1987, reaching #29.
ABBA's Agnetha Faltskog recorded Mueller's "I Wasn't the One ", which was a Top 20 hit in 1988, reaching #19 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart. It was a duet with Peter Cetera, the former lead singer of the band Chicago. Co-written with Aaron Zigman, the song also spent time in the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #93.
George Benson's "No One Emotion," which Mueller co-wrote with Clif Magness, was released as a single in the UK in 1985 where it reached #76 on the Official British Pop Chart.
"Just Because I Love You" by Lina Santiago reached #27 on the Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 Chart hit in 1996. It also spent 8 weeks in the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #78.
Mueller's first Billboard chart hit was "I Don't Want To Be Lonely," performed by Dana Valery. It reached #23 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and spent 13 weeks on that chart and 5 weeks on the magazine's Hot 100.

Gold and platinum awards

Mueller’s work in the U.S. has been featured on RIAA-certified platinum and gold records by artists including: Heart, Amy Grant, 'N Sync featuring Justin Timberlake, Lea Michele, Jennifer Paige, Earth, Wind & Fire, SWV, Al Jarreau, George Benson, Aaron Carter, El DeBarge, Agnetha Fältskog of ABBA, Peter Cetera, The Pointer Sisters. His theme song for DuckTales is featured on the platinum-selling record.
Internationally, Mueller’s songs have been on the UK's BPI-certified platinum and gold records by artists including: Girls Aloud featuring Cheryl Cole, Eternal, Steps and Australia's ARIA-certified gold records including: Jennifer Paige, Lea Michele and John Farnham of the Little River Band.

Television and film

Mueller received his two Emmy nominations for his work as a lyricist on the ABC-TV series Life Goes On and the NBC-TV series Quincy, M.E.. He wrote both words and music for the title song of Disney’s animated series DuckTales and Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers. He also wrote the theme song for 1991 film The Little Engine That Could. Mueller co-wrote the title song and the script for a CBS-TV pilot he executive produced titled Shangri-La Plaza.
The DuckTales theme was performed live twice on NBC's Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2018.
In March 2018, it was sung by Brendan Urie of Panic! at the Disco after being selected from the "Audience Suggestion Box." The video of the song has had more than 9,800,000 views on Facebook and more than 1,450,000 viewers on YouTube.
In September 2018, country/pop star Carrie Underwood, season 4 winner of American Idol, sung a brief, spontaneous duet of the DuckTales theme with host Jimmy Fallon after telling him it was one of her young son's favorite songs.
The DuckTales theme was played live on ABC-TV's Dancing with the Stars in September 2016 on the second episode of the show's 23rd season, with a performance by the show's Season 20 champion Val Chmerkovskiy and Olympic Gold Medalist gymnast star Laurie Hernandez. Their dance was the top-ranked performance of the week and the couple went on to win the season.
“Crush" was featured on the "Ballad" episode of Fox-TV's Golden Globe-winning best comedy series Glee in 2009, when it was covered by show star Lea Michele. Her version of the song is also featured on the soundtrack album ', which peaked at #1 on the Billboard Soundtrack Chart, #3 on the Billboard Hot 200 Album Chart in December 2009 and was certified as a gold record by the RIAA in January 2010. "Crush" was also prominently used in a special TV-movie-length episode of ABC-TV's Sabrina, the Teenage Witch set in Rome.
Mark wrote words and music for the song "Babysitting Blues", which was performed by Oscar-nominated lead actress Elisabeth Shue, Blues legend Albert Collins and the cast of the film Adventures in Babysitting in famed Chicago-area nightclub Fitzgerald's. The scene was shot over the course of three days and takes place during a pivotal chase sequence in the movie.
For the NBC-TV musical comedy series Rags to Riches, Mueller wrote new comedic lyrics for existing hit songs from the '50s and '60s that were featured in most episodes of both seasons of the show. He also wrote the lyrics to the show's theme song.
Mueller co-wrote all songs featured in the original film musical Berlin Blues, starring opera singer Julia Migenes, with four-time Grammy winner and six-time Oscar nominee Lalo Schifrin.
Mueller’s songs have been featured in films including: One Hour Photo, ', Money Talks, B*A*P*S, National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation, The Last Starfighter, Adventures in Babysitting, Simply Irresistible, The Legend of Billie Jean and Honey, I Blew Up The Kid.

Stage

Mueller wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the book of an original musical titled Butterfly, which was directed by Tony Award-winner Jack Hofsiss and performed at the Goodspeed Opera House. Bernadette Peters performed the song "The Next Dream" from the musical on the Carol Burnett TV variety show Carol & Company, which aired on NBC.
Mueller also wrote an original musical with Lesley Nicol, who played Mrs. Patmore on TV's Emmy-, Golden Globe-, SAG Award- and BAFTA-winning drama Downton Abbey for six seasons on the PBS series Masterpiece in the US and ITV in the UK. The first performance was given by Mueller and Nicol in 2017 at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Nicol's alma mater, followed by a show in Hong Kong at the city's historic Fringe Club.