Jason Mraz biography
Jason Thomas Mraz (; born June 23, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. 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", in 2005, that Mraz achieved major commercial success. The album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 and sold over 100,000 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 and was a commercial success worldwide, peaking in the top ten of many international charts.
Mraz's international breakthrough came with the release of the single "I'm Yours" from the album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. The single peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Mraz his first top ten single. The song was on the Hot 100 for 76 weeks, beating the previous record of 69 weeks held by LeAnn Rimes' "How Do I Live". The song was a huge commercial success in the US, receiving a 5x platinum certification from the RIAA for sales of over five million. The song was successful internationally, topping the charts in New Zealand and Norway and peaking in the top ten of multiple international charts.
Early life
Jason Mraz was born and raised in Mechanicsville, Virginia. He is of Czech descent through his grandfather, who moved to the United States from Austria-Hungary in 1915. His surname is Czech for "frost"
Mraz attended Lee-Davis High School in Mechanicsville. As a teenager, Mraz participated in local theater with SPARC (School of the Performing Arts in the Richmond Community). He played Joseph in the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
After graduating from high school in 1995, Mraz attended The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City, for a short time, studying musical theater. He dropped out of the school after taking up the guitar and focusing more on songwriting, and began performing at Java Joe's. He had regular shows and was a favourite with audiences. He then briefly returned to Virginia before moving to San Diego, California.
Music career
Live at Java Joe's (2001)
In 2001, Mraz released a live acoustic album,
Live at Java Joe's, a coffee-house type place in Southern California where Jewel also made her debut. Here, Mraz performed with percussionist Toca Riviera and bassist Ian Sheridan and felt at home singing and scatting through jazzy-pop songs. He would deliver rapidfire lyrics full of verbal mischief, and he would riff off the crowd like a stand-up comic. The album featured Mraz's free-lancing vocal style and songs he later re-released, including "1000 Things", "You and I Both", and "Halfway Home."
The album was made available to download on iTunes on March 11, 2008, under the title Jason Mraz: Live & Acoustic 2001.
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