Jason Mraz
(; [1] born June 23, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter, born and raised in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Mraz's stylistic influences include reggae, pop, rock, folk, jazz, and hip hop.
Mraz released his debut album, Waiting for My Rocket to Come
in 2002 but it was not until the release of his second album, Mr. A-Z
that Mraz achieved commercial success. The album peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 200 and sold over one hundred thousand copies in the US. In 2008, Mraz released his third studio album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.
. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 was a commercial success worldwide, peaking in the top ten of many international charts.
Mraz's international breakthrough came with the release of lead single from We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.
titled "I'm Yours". The single peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Mraz his first top ten single. The song was a huge commercial success in the US with it receiving a triple-Platinum certification from the RIAA for sales of over three million. [2] The song was successful internationally and topped the charts in New Zealand and Norway and peaking in the top ten of multiple international charts.
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JASON MRAZ TICKETS
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Biography
Mraz is of
Czech descent through his grandfather who moved to the United States from what is now the
Czech Republic in 1915.
[3] His surname is
Czech for "frost."
Mraz is a
vegan.
[4]
He attended The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City, for a short time, studying musical theater before moving to
San Diego.
Mraz also owns an
Avocado farm in
Northern San Diego County near
Fallbrook.
[5]
Music career
Waiting For My Rocket to Come
In 2002, Mraz released his first major-label debut album,
Waiting for My Rocket to Come
. The album was a relative commercial success, peaking at number fifty-five on the
Billboard Hot 200 and at number two on the Top
Heatseekers Chart. The lead single from the album, "
The Remedy (I Won't Worry)" was co-written by music production team
The Matrix and it was Mraz's first top twenty single on the
Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number fifteen.
Mr. A-Z
and tours
In July 2005, Mraz opened for
Alanis Morissette during her
Jagged Little Pill Acoustic
Tour. On July 26, 2005, he released his second major-label album,
Mr. A-Z
, for
Atlantic Records. It entered the
Billboard
200 album chart at number 5.
[6] In December, the album earned a
Grammy Award nomination for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, while its producer, the prolific
Steve Lillywhite, received a nomination for Producer of the Year.
[7] Mraz's friend and former roommate Billy "
Bushwalla" Galewood also collaborated on the album, co-writing "
Curbside Prophet" and the album's third single, and "I'll Do Anything".
Mraz began his long-running tour in support of
Mr. A-Z
at the
San Diego Music Awards on September 12. The tour featured a variety of opening acts, including
Bushwalla and
Tristan Prettyman, with whom he had co-written the duet "Shy That Way" in 2002.
[8] Mraz and Prettyman dated, ending their relationship in 2006. They also co-wrote the song "All I Want For Christmas is Us". In November 2005, Mraz opened for the
Rolling Stones on five dates during their 2005–2006 world tour. Also in 2005, Mraz was one of many singers featured in the fall advertisement campaign for
The Gap entitled "Favorites". The music-themed campaign also featured other singers including
Tristan Prettyman,
Michelle Branch,
Joss Stone,
Keith Urban,
Alanis Morissette,
Brandon Boyd, and
Michelle Williams.
[9] In December 2005, Mraz released the first part of his ongoing
podcast.
In March 2006, Mraz also performed for the first time at a sold-out performance in
Singapore with Toca Rivera as part of the annual
Mosaic Music Festival. In May 2006, Mraz toured mostly small venues and music festivals in the U.S., along with a few shows in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The tour included a May 6, 2006 acoustic show with
P.O.D.,
Better Than Ezra,
Live, and
The Presidents of the United States of America. Mraz was featured as a headlining guest of
St. Louis's annual
Fair St. Louis and performed a free concert at the base of
the Arch on July 1, 2006.
In December 2006,
Selections for Friends
, the live, online-only album recorded during the Songs for Friends Tour, was released.
Selections for Friends
features Jason's favorite songs from the Schubas Tavern and Villa Montalvo shows he played in July 2006. Jason Mraz began 2007 by debuting his new single "The Beauty in Ugly", an earlier track penned by Mraz entitled "Plain Jane" that he rewrote for the
ABC TV show Ugly Betty
. The song was featured as a part of ABC's "Be Ugly in '07" campaign.
[10] He has since released a song in Spanish entitled "La Nueva Belleza (The New Beauty)".
[11]
In 2007,
American Idol
contestant
Chris Richardson performed "Geek in the Pink", which subsequently garnered the song mass recognition and increased downloads at the American
iTunes Store. It was also performed later that year by
Canadian Idol
contestant
Greg Neufeld. "
Geek in the Pink" peaked at #22 on the U.S. iTunes Store on March 10, 2007, but it was ineligible for the site's Hot 100. The tape-recording of
bootlegs during Mraz's shows is explicitly supported by him and his management.
[12]
We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.
Mraz released his third studio album,
We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.
on May 13, 2008. The album debuted at number three on the
Billboard Hot 200 giving Mraz his highest charting album to date. Following the success of lead single,
I'm Yours, the album broke into the top ten of many international music charts and charted in the top three in Australia and the US.
[13]
The first single "
I'm Yours" reached #1 on
AAA radio charts in the US. The single was a B-side to Mr A-Z, and was made famous by recordings from his live shows. In September 2008, the song became Mraz's first Top 10 hit on the
Billboard Hot 100, peaking so far at #6. As of October 14, 2008, the album has been certified Gold by the RIAA, selling in excess of 500,000 copies in the US. The song was a commercial success worldwide, peaking in the top ten of multiple European charts and topping the charts in
New Zealand for six weeks.
[14]
Mraz and his song "I'm Yours" was nominated for Song of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 2009
51st Grammy Awards. The album
We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.
was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical in 2009. On January 31, 2009, Mraz was the musical guest on
Saturday Night Live, performing "I'm Yours" and "
Lucky", the latter with
Colbie Caillat. "Lucky" has peaked on the
Hot 100 at 48.
Discography
;
Studio albums
- Waiting for My Rocket to Come
(2002)
- Mr. A–Z
(2005)
- We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.
(2008)
References
- See inogolo:pronunciation of Jason Mraz.
- http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Atlantic-Records-946354.html
- Dialogue: Jason Mraz
- http://www.vegpage.com/university/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=860:jason-mraz-goes-v
- http://www.sandiegomagazine.com/media/San-Diego-Magazine/November-2008/Jason-Mraz/
- Jason Mraz books headlining fall tour
- Fast Facts: 48th Annual Grammy Nominees
- Tristan Prettyman Rides the Crest
- GAP Favorites Alanis Morissete, Jos Stone, Destiny's Child sing Michelle Williams and Keith Urban
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