Background
Mraz graduated from Lee-Davis High School in Mechanicsville, Virginia. After a brief stint studying musical theater at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, he moved to San Diego. On the Southern California club scene, Mraz joined percussionist Toca Rivera and his brother, Latin-pop guitarist Carlos Olmeda, in a regular Thursday-night gig at the now-defunct Java Joe's coffee shop—the same venue where fellow musician Jewel played during her early career. In 2001, he married Sheridan Edley; they subsequently divorced. 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.His first single, "The Remedy (I Won't Worry)," was co-written by music production team The Matrix. Mraz also collaborated on the album with friend and former roommate Billy "Bushwalla" Galewood, who co-wrote "Curbside Prophet", the album's second 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 No. 5. 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.
Jason Mraz in concert at the Copley Symphony Hall in San Diego, California
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. Mraz and Prettyman dated briefly, co-writing the song "All I Want For Christmas is Us."
In November, 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. In December 2005, Mraz released the first part of his ongoing podcast.
In March, 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.
In October 2005 Mraz did an interview with High Times Magazine in which he claims that "Pot laws don’t exist in our world" referring to himself and his band. He also claims that producer Steve Lillywhite would tell him and his bandmates to take LSD over the weekend to gain perspective and creativity.
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 acoustic show with P.O.D., Better Than Ezra, Live, and The Presidents. 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, "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. Schubas Tavern featured a stripped down solo performance, while Villa Montalvo was an unplugged full band show.
Currently
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, which sought to promote self-esteem in wome. He has since released a song in Spanish entitled "La Nueva Belleza (The New Beauty)." Carlos Olmeda helped him with the Spanish lyrics.
At present, Mraz is recording his third major label studio album, scheduled to be released the spring of 2008. He has performed some of the songs on the album at local San Diego coffee shops, most notably at Twiggs's Coffee House.
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. "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.
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