Mark Wills: "I Went Skydiving?"

Mark Wills photo by Glenn Sweitzer, courtesy of Tenacity Records.

Jan. 16, 2009 — Mark Wills has not added "Live Like You Were Dying" to his concert set list, but he did follow the instructions in its chorus by parachuting last week in North Carolina.

Mark took his 19-year-old nephew, Branden Mangus, to Fort Bragg to jump out of an airplane with the Army’s Golden Knights Parachute Team. Rolling out of the plane at 13,500 feet was a thrill, though he conceded he needed the aid of the soldiers to actually go through with it.

"I know I could never do it myself," Mark told The Fayetteville Observer. "I don’t even like to check the oil in my car."

It’s actually the fourth time that Mark’s gone skydiving with the Golden Knights in an ongoing friendship he’s established with the Armed Forces. Mark just returned Christmas Eve from a tour of the Middle East with Craig Morgan and Keni Thomas. It was the seventh time that Mark’s gone over to Iraq and Afghanistan to play for the troops.

"I don’t know if I do it more for them or more for me because I enjoy it so much," Mark said.

Mark, host of the GAC series The Year, has plans to hit the road this summer in another installment of the Honky Tonk Tailgate Party Tour. Joining him will be Jeff Bates and Trent Willmon.