Jason Thomas Mraz
(
pron.: /məˈræz/;
[1]
born June 23, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. Mraz first came
to prominence on the San Diego coffee house scene in 2000.
[2] At one of these coffee houses, Mraz met percussionist
Toca Rivera and released
Live at Java Joe's. He 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 commercial success in the US, receiving a 5x platinum certification from the
RIAA for sales of over five million.
[3]
The song was successful internationally, topping the charts in New
Zealand and Norway and peaking in the top ten of multiple international
charts.
Bob Dylan
(
pron.: /ˈdɪlən/; born
Robert Allen Zimmerman; May 24, 1941) is an American musician,
singer-songwriter, music producer, artist, and writer. He has been an influential figure in popular music and culture for more than five decades.
[2][3]
Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an
informal chronicler and a seemingly reluctant figurehead of social
unrest. A number of Dylan's early songs, such as "
Blowin' in the Wind" and "
The Times They Are a-Changin'", became anthems for the
US civil rights[4] and
anti-war[5] movements. Leaving his initial base in the
culture of folk music behind, Dylan's six-minute single "
Like a Rolling Stone" radically altered the parameters of popular music in 1965.
[6] His recordings employing
electric instruments attracted
denunciation and criticism from others in the folk movement.
Dylan's lyrics have incorporated a variety of political, social,
philosophical, and literary influences. They defied existing pop music
conventions and appealed hugely to the then burgeoning
counterculture. Initially inspired by the performance style of
Little Richard,
[7] and the songwriting of
Woody Guthrie,
[8] Robert Johnson,
[9] and
Hank Williams,
[10] Dylan has both amplified and personalized musical
genres. His recording career, spanning fifty years, has explored many of the traditions in American song—from
folk,
blues, and
country to
gospel,
rock and roll, and
rockabilly to
English,
Scottish, and
Irish folk music, embracing even
jazz and
swing.
[11]
Dylan performs with guitar, keyboards, and harmonica. Backed by a
changing line-up of musicians, he has toured steadily since the late
1980s on what has been dubbed the
Never Ending Tour.
His accomplishments as a recording artist and performer have been
central to his career, but his greatest contribution is generally
considered to be his songwriting.
[2]
Since 1994, Dylan has published three books of drawings and paintings, and his work has been exhibited in major art galleries.
[12][13] As a songwriter and musician, Dylan has sold more than 100 million records worldwide
[14] and
received numerous awards over the years including
Grammy,
Golden Globe, and
Academy Awards; he has been inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
Minnesota Music Hall of Fame,
Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and
Songwriters Hall of Fame. The
Pulitzer Prize jury in 2008 awarded him a
special citation for "his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power."
[15] In May 2000, Dylan was awarded the
Polar Music Prize. In May 2012, Dylan received the
Presidential Medal of Freedom from President
Barack Obama.