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Jason Mraz
Mraz performing at Point Nepean on March 18, 2008
Background information
Birth name	Jason Thomas Mraz
Born	June 23, 1977 (1977-06-23) (age 32) Mechanicsville, Virginia United States
Origin	California
Genres	Rock, Pop rock, Alternative rock, Soul
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, Musician
Instruments	Vocals, Guitar, Mandolin Ukulele, Keyboards
Years active	since 1999
Labels	Elektra Records (2002–2005) Atlantic Records (2005—present)
Website	www.jasonmraz.com/

Jason Mraz (pronounced /məˈræz/;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, which contained the hit single "The Remedy (I Won't Worry)", 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.

Personal life

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."³ 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

Mraz opened for Tracy Chapman in March 2003 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. 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".^{citation needed} 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.

Jason Mraz performs at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut on May 17, 2006.

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.^{citation needed} 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 television program 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.^{citation needed} "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.^{citation needed} 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.

Jason Mraz at Gröna Lund In Stockholm, Sweden 2008

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.

With "Make It Mine" and "Lucky", Mraz won two awards for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals at the 2010 52nd Grammy Awards.

Fourth studio album

Mraz posted on his Myspace in November 2009 plans for a new album to be recorded starting in December, stating "In 2 weeks time I will enter the studio and begin recording the next album. Only a handful of songs are written and slated but the momentum of love is with me. Every day new verses get added on. The songs are coming together piece by piece. The process is unlike any of the other records before this. It's like I'm being gifted the album without having to do the work. I'm creating that in 6 months the project will be complete and then we'll hit the road again with new sounds and new musicians." ¹⁵

Discography

Studio albums

• Waiting for My Rocket to Come (2002)
• Mr. A–Z (2005)
• We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. (2008)

Live albums

• Live at Java Joe's (2001)
• Tonight, Not Again: Jason Mraz Live at the Eagles Ballroom (2004)
• Selections for Friends - Live from: Schubas Tavern, Chicago, Montalvo Winery, Saratoga California (2007)
• Jason Mraz's Beautiful Mess - Live from Earth (2009)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jason Mraz

• Official website
• Jason Mraz at the Internet Movie Database
• Jason Mraz at Allmusic
• Jason Mraz channel at YouTube
• Jason Mraz collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive
• Playlist: Jason Mraz – Nightline 07/17/09 – Reggae to rock, Mraz reveals his musical influences.