Mark Ambor's become one of 2024's breakout artists thanks to "Belong Together," his viral hit from his debut album, Rockwood. In fact, MTV has just named him its Global PUSH artist for October. Surprisingly, Mark only started writing songs a few years ago, right before he was supposed to leave for college.
"I didn't want to leave. I didn't want to go to college. So I felt very lost," he tells ABC Audio. "That, combined with me and my girlfriend breaking up ... I just sat down and I was like, 'I'm gonna try to write a song.' And I wrote something and ... I recorded it on my phone. I was really proud of it."
And though he'd never sung for anyone before, Mark texted the song to his parents.
"I said, 'What do you guys think of this?'" he recalls. "And they responded a few hours later -- my mom said, 'Hey, Dad and I really like this. Who's the artist?'"
"I was like, 'Mom, it's me!'" Mark laughs. "And ... they sent it to my siblings and they thought it was good. And then I ... [sent] it to some of my close friends and they said it was good. And I think that ... was like, the catalyst."
Throughout college, Mark continued to write, play and record music. And when COVID hit in 2020, he saw an opportunity.
"COVID left me with, basically, the ability to not have social pressure to go out and try to get a job," Mark explains. "And I was like, 'Mom and Dad, I'm going to focus on music for six months and put it first.'"
"That's when TikTok and things started growing, and managers start reaching out, and labels and stuff. And it's been a steady growth kind of thing."
Mark will kick off his headlining tour Oct. 24 in Philadelphia.