Jason Mraz
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| Jason Mraz | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jason Thomas Mraz |
| Born | June 23, 1977 |
| Origin | Mechanicsville, Hanover County, Virginia, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Pop rock, acoustic, alternative rock |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, musician |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, mandolin |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Label(s) | Atlantic (2005-present) Elektra (2002–2005) |
| Associated acts | Speechwriters LLC Raul Midon |
| Website | www.jasonmraz.com |
Jason Thomas Mraz (pronounced /'dʒeɪsən ˈmɹæz/; born June 23, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter, born and raised in Mechanicsville, Hanover County, Virginia, a suburb of Richmond.[1]
Mraz is an eclectic artist with multiple and varied stylistic influences, including pop, rock, folk, jazz, country, and hip hop. He has played with various artists, including The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Dave Matthews Band, James Blunt, Gavin DeGraw, Paula Cole, John Popper, Alanis Morissette, The Ohio Players, Rachael Yamagata, James Morrison, Jewel and Colbie Caillat[2].[citation needed] Mraz is also an avocado farmer in California. He is a raw foodist, meaning he only eats uncooked and unprocessed foods.
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[edit] Biography
Mraz graduated from Lee-Davis High School. He attended Longwood University for a short time and then after a brief stint studying musical theater at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, he moved to San Diego.
In 2002, Mraz signed to Elektra Records, returning to Virginia to work with producer John Alagía on his major label debut release, Waiting for My Rocket to Come, which would be certified platinum by the RIAA in July 2004 and reach #2 on Billboard's Heatseekers Chart.[3] His first single, "The Remedy (I Won't Worry)," was co-written by music production team The Matrix. Mraz's friend and former roommate Billy "Bushwalla" Galewood also collaborated on the album, co-writing "Curbside Prophet", the album's third single, and "I'll Do Anything".
In June and July of 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.[4] 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.[5]
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.[6] 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 Michelle Branch, Joss Stone, Keith Urban, Alanis Morissette, Brandon Boyd, and Michelle Williams.[7] 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 (one month before the actual performance date) performance in Singapore with Toca 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 TV show Ugly Betty. The song was featured as a part of ABC's "Be Ugly in '07" campaign.[8] He has since released a song in Spanish entitled "La Nueva Belleza (The New Beauty)".[9]
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.
Jason is currently promoting his latest studio album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. which was released on May 13, 2008. "Lucky", the third song in the album, features Colbie Caillat.
Mraz's single "I'm Yours" has been #1 on AAA radio charts in the US for 3 weeks as of 6/15/08 and was made famous by a live recording from his acoustic show at the Villa Montalvo Winery which received millions of hits on his Myspace. In July 2008, the song became Mraz's second Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking so far at #27.
Jason Mraz owns an avocado farm, where he makes a vegan dessert that he calls chocomole. [10] He is also a fervent cat lover, owning two of his own. They are named Benny and Joon (after the '93 romantic comedy), and they reside at Mraz's homestead.[11]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
- Waiting for My Rocket to Come (2002) #55 U.S. (Platinum)
- Mr. A-Z (2005) #5 U.S.
- We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.[12] (2008) #3 U.S. #110 UK
[edit] EPs and other releases
- A Jason Mraz Demonstration (1999)
- Live at Java Joe's (2001)
- From the Cutting Room Floor (2001)
- Sold Out (In Stereo) (2002)
- The E Minor EP in F (2002)
- Tonight, Not Again: Jason Mraz Live at the Eagles Ballroom (2004) #49 U.S.
- Wordplay - EP (2005)
- Extra Credit - EP (2005) - Digital EP
- Jimmy Kimmel Live: Jason Mraz - EP (2005) - iTunes
- Geekin' Out Across the Galaxy (2006) - Digital Live EP
- Selections for Friends (2007) - Digital Live LP #22 Top Digital Albums
- iTunes Live: London Sessions - EP (2008) - U.K. iTunes[13]
- We Sing. - EP (2008)[14] #101 U.S.
- We Dance. - EP (2008)[14] #52 U.S.
- We Steal Things. - EP (2008)[14]
[edit] Singles
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This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (March 2008) |
| Year | Single | Album | U.S. | CAN | UK | GER | NOR | SWE | SWI | NL | AT | ITA | AUS | NZ | WW | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot 100 | Adult Top 40 | Pop | Digital | CAN Hot 100 | UK Singles | Top 100 | Top 20 | Top 60 | Top 100 | Top 40 | Top 75 | FIMI | ARIA | RIANZ | WW | |||
| 2003 | "The Remedy (I Won't Worry)" | Waiting for My Rocket to Come | 14 | 4 | - | - | - | 79 | - | - | - | - | 12 | - | - | - | 32 | - |
| 2004 | "Curbside Prophet" | - | 23 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| "You and I Both" | 110 | 15 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2005 | "Wordplay" | Mr. A-Z | 81 | 17 | 59 | 44 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| "Geek in the Pink" | - | 32 | 90 | 45 | - | 128 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2008 | "I'm Yours" | We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. | 27 | 9 | 42 | 14 | 93 | 139 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 7 | - | 18 |
| 2008 | "Make It Mine" | We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. | TBA | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
[edit] Guest contributions
- "I Melt with You", from the 50 First Dates Soundtrack (2004)
- "Summer Breeze", from the Everwood: Original TV Soundtrack (2004)
- "Dramatica Mujer", with Alex Cuba(2005)
- "Shy That Way", with Tristan Prettyman from the album twentythree (2005)
- "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy", from the album Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen (2005)
- "Keep on Hoping", with Raul Midon from the album State of Mind (2005)
- "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall", from the album Listen to Bob Dylan: A Tribute (2005)
- "Winter Wonderland", from the album Sounds of the Seasons: the NBC Holiday Collection (2005)
- "Unravel", "The Boy's Gone", and "Plain Jane", from the album Hear Music XM Radio Sessions Volume 1 (2005)
- "The Joker/Everything I Own", a duet on the Happy Feet soundtrack with Chrissie Hynde (2006)
- "Slummin' In Paradise", background vocals for Mandy Moore, from the album Wild Hope (2007)
- "Something to Believe In", with Van Hunt and Jon McLaughlin from the album Randy Jackson's Music Club, Vol. 1 (2008)
- "Beauty in Ugly" for Ugly Betty
[edit] Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | San Diego Music Awards - Best Acoustic | Win |
| 2003 | San Diego Music Awards - Artist of the Year | Win |
| 2003 | San Diego Music Awards - Song of the Year | Win |
| 2005 | Grammy Award - Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical for Mr. A-Z | Nominated |
[edit] References
- ^ IMDb. Jason Mraz - Biography imdb.com Accessed September 11, 2007
- ^ Jasonmraz.com - We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things Jason Mraz Official Store Pre-Order
- ^ Cohen, Jonathan. (April 20, 2005) Mraz Nails Down New Album, Alanis Dates Billboard.com Accessed July 1, 2007
- ^ Zahlaway, John. (August 12, 2005. Jason Mraz books headlining fall tour LiveDaily.com Accessed July 1, 2007.
- ^ Fast Facts: 48th Annual Grammy Nominees December 8, 2005. Accessed July 1, 2007.
- ^ Jacobs, Jay S. (2005). Tristan Prettyman Rides the Crest Accessed July 1, 2007.
- ^ July 31, 2005
- ^ iTunes iTunes: Jason Mraz: The Beauty in Ugly
- ^ iTunes iTunes: Jason Mraz: La Nueva Belleza
- ^ CNN [1]
- ^ http://www.jasonmraz.com/#/journal/
- ^ The San Diego Troubadour
- ^ U.K. iTunes - iTunes Home: Music: Rock: Jason Mraz: iTunes Live: London Sessions - EP
- ^ a b c Via Atlantic Records - Jason Mraz releases/Tour talk!
[edit] External links
- Official Jason Mraz website
- Right Kind of Phrase: Official Jason Mraz Message Board
- Jason Mraz at MySpace
- Official Jason Mraz iLike Page
- Jason Mraz on Facebook's iLike application
- Jason Mraz collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive
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