Jason Mraz
Jason Thomas Mraz is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He rose to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, Waiting for My Rocket to Come, which spawned the single "The Remedy " that peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. His second studio album Mr. A-Z peaked at number five on the Billboard 200.
His third studio album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things., peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 200 and was certified four times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album's lead single, "I'm Yours", reached the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, while spending a then-record 76 weeks on the Hot 100, and it was certified Diamond by the RIAA. The album also spawned the Grammy Award winning singles "Make It Mine" and "Lucky" with Colbie Caillat.
His fourth album, Love Is a Four Letter Word, peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 and spawned the single "I Won't Give Up", which became his second top ten hit on the Hot 100. He went on to release the top ten albums Yes! and Know.. After signing a three-album agreement with BMG in 2020, Mraz released the albums Look for the Good and Mystical Magical Rhythmical Radical Ride.
Along with receiving two Grammy Award wins, Mraz is also the recipient of two Teen Choice Awards, a People's Choice Award, and the Hal David Songwriters Hall of Fame Award. As of July 2014, Mraz has sold over seven million albums, and over 11.5 million in digital singles.
In 2023, Mraz competed as a contestant on season 32 of Dancing with the Stars, finishing in second place, behind Xochitl Gomez.
Early life
Mraz was born and raised in Mechanicsville, Virginia. His parents, Tom Mraz and June Tomes, divorced when he was five years old, leaving Mraz to live with his father while his sister lived with his mother. His father is a postal worker, and his mother is vice president at a branch of Bank of America. He is of partial Czech ancestry on his paternal side.While attending Lee-Davis High School, Mraz was a member of the cheerleading squad, school chorus, and drama club. He starred as Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and as Snoopy in Snoopy! The Musical. During this period of his life, he struggled with his sexuality at times, wondering if he was gay. Mraz graduated in 1995.
After high school, Mraz attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City for about a year and a half, originally to work in musical theater. When his roommates played guitar he would provide the vocals. Eventually, a friend gave him a guitar that was about to be thrown away and Mraz learned to play and write his own music. Mraz credits an early girlfriend as being one of the influences that drove him to songwriting. She encouraged him to write his thoughts on paper which helped him get "all of the voices in my head to shut up" and "become something I could follow."
Mraz moved to the Shockoe Bottom neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia, where he took a series of odd jobs, including elementary-school janitor, and joined the Ashland Stage Company. Mraz then enrolled at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, on a scholarship. Instead of attending classes, he headed west on a road trip that ultimately brought him to San Diego, where he decided to stay.
Music career
1999–2001: Career beginnings
Soon after moving to San Diego in 1999, Mraz became a roadie for the band Elgin Park. He met future band member Toca Rivera at Java Joe's, a coffee house in the Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego known for being formative in the careers of Jewel and Steve Poltz. Mraz performed once a week for nearly three years, building a following in San Diego and online.Mraz self-published the albums A Jason Mraz Demonstration, From the Cutting Room Floor, and On Love, In Sadness . In 2001, Mraz released the live acoustic album Live at Java Joe's, performing with percussionist Rivera and bassist Ian Sheridan. The album featured several songs he would later re-release, including "1000 Things", "You and I Both", and "Halfway Home". The album was later released on iTunes, on March 11, 2008, under the title Jason Mraz: Live & Acoustic 2001. Mraz returned to perform at Java Joe's for the 15th anniversary of the album on January 29, 2016. Mraz' last self-released album was Sold Out , released on March 21, 2002.
2002–2004: ''Waiting for My Rocket to Come''
In late 2001, Mraz signed a recording contract with Elektra Records and moved to Los Angeles.In 2002, Mraz opened for Jewel on her tour.
On October 15, 2002, Mraz released his first major label debut album, Waiting for My Rocket to Come, which peaked at number 55 on the Billboard 200. The day after the album's release, Mraz played on The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn. "You & I Both" was released as a promotional single prior to the album's release, but received minimal airplay.
In early 2003, Mraz released his first commercial single, "The Remedy ". The track was co-written by music production team The Matrix, and became Mraz's first top-40 single on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 15. The song was inspired by a high school friend who was diagnosed with cancer. At the time of the album's release, Mraz said that he did not like "The Remedy " and had not wanted it on the album. In June 2003, "You & I Both" was released commercially as the second single from the album. Waiting for My Rocket to Come was certified Platinum in May 2005 for selling 1 million units.
Mraz opened for Tracy Chapman in 2003 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. In 2004, while on tour, Mraz released a live album with an accompanying DVD, Tonight, Not Again: Jason Mraz Live at the Eagles Ballroom. He performed with his touring band, including drummer Adam King, Rivera, Sheridan and keyboardist Eric Hinojosa, along with a guest appearance from Blues Traveler frontman John Popper.
2005–2007: ''Mr. A–Z''
On July 26, 2005, Mraz released his second major label album, Mr. A–Z, produced by Steve Lillywhite for Atlantic Records. The album's lead single, "Wordplay", was produced by Kevin Kadish, and entered the Billboard 200 at number 5. The album earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, while Lillywhite received a nomination for Producer of the Year.Mraz began a long-running tour in support of Mr. A–Z at the San Diego Music Awards on September 12, 2005. The tour featured several opening acts, including Bushwalla and Tristan Prettyman, with whom he had written the duet "Shy That Way" in 2002. Mraz opened for Alanis Morissette during her 2005 Jagged Little Pill Acoustic tour, and for the Rolling Stones on five dates during their 2005–06 world tour. In March 2006, he performed in Singapore as part of the annual Mosaic Music Festival. That May, he toured mostly small venues and music festivals in the U.S., along with a few shows in the United Kingdom and Ireland where he supported James Blunt. 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 Gateway Arch on July 1, 2006. During this time, Mraz was also the opening act at several dates for Rob Thomas' Something to Be Tour.
In 2005, Mraz was one of many singers featured in the fall advertisement campaign for The Gap campaign "Favorites", singing a cover of Bob Marley's "One Love". 2006 saw the release of Selections for Friends, the live, online-only album recorded during the Songs for Friends Tour. In 2007, "The Beauty in Ugly", an earlier track penned by Mraz originally titled "Plain Jane", was rewritten for the ABC television show Ugly Betty. The song was featured as a part of ABC's "Be Ugly in '07" campaign.
2008–2011: ''We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.''
On May 13, 2008, Mraz released his third studio album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. The album debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200 and was later certified quadruple platinum. It broke into the top 10 of many international music charts. Mraz said that the album title was taken from the work of Scottish artist David Shrigley. Prior to its release, Mraz released three EPs, each with acoustic versions of songs from the album.The album's lead single, "I'm Yours", was written in August 2004 and was initially released in demo form on the limited edition EP Extra Credit in 2005. Through Mraz's live performances of the song, it gained in popularity with fans. "I'm Yours" became Mraz's first Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 6 on September 20, 2008. It ultimately spent 76 weeks on the Hot 100, longer than any other song in the magazine's 51-year history. It was a major commercial success in the US and was certified 7x multi-Platinum by the RIAA for sales of over seven million. The song was also successful internationally, topping the charts in New Zealand, Norway, Portugal and Sweden, and peaking in the top ten on the charts in 11 other countries. By May 2012, it had gained over 125,000,000 hits on YouTube. It was the first song to top the charts in four different radio formats: Mainstream Top 40, Adult Contemporary, Adult Top 40 and Triple A. "Make It Mine" was released as the second single from the album but failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. "Lucky" with Colbie Caillat was released as the third single from the album and peaked at number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100.
At the 2009 Grammy Awards, "I'm Yours" was nominated for Song of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, and We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. was nominated for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. In 2009, Mraz was awarded the Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2010, Mraz won two Grammy Awards for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and Best Pop Collaboration. "I'm Yours" was also named ASCAP's 2010 Song of the Year.
Mraz's 2008 world tour traveled across the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia. His personal photo travelogue from the world tour was published as a book, titled A Thousand Things. The book was launched with a photo exhibition at Charles Cowles Gallery in New York City at the end of 2008. Also in 2008, Mraz played with Eric Clapton to a crowd of 45,000 in Hyde Park, London, sold out London's Royal Albert Hall, and performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo. That year, he embarked on the Music, Magic & Make Peace Tour with Bushwalla, The Makepeace Brothers, and magician Justin Willman.
In 2009, Mraz recorded "The Way Is Love", an unreleased Roy Orbison song, as a duet with Willie Nelson. In November 2009, he released the live CD/DVD Jason Mraz's Beautiful Mess: Live on Earth, recorded in Chicago during the Gratitude Café tour. The following year, he went to Brazil to record "Simplesmente Todo" with Milton Nascimento, who sings in Portuguese while Mraz sings in English. He also did some writing with Dido and recorded new material with producer Martin Terefe. Mraz released the live EP, Life Is Good on October 5, 2010.