Jason Mraz Family

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". His parents, Tom(Tomáš) Mraz and June Mraz, divorced when he was four years old, but he asserts that he had an idyllic childhood, saying, "My hometown of Mechanicsville was very American. There were white picket fences, a church on every street corner, low crime and virtually no drug use. It was a good place to grow up."

Jason Mraz

Jason Mraz attended Lee-Davis High School in Mechanicsville. As a teenager, Jason 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, Jason 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.

Jason Mraz was engaged to singer-songwriter Tristan Prettyman. On June 7, 2011, Jason Mraz said in an interview with the Daily Beast that he and Prettyman were no longer engaged.

Jason Mraz lives a health-conscious lifestyle and enjoys eating mostly raw vegan foods. He owns an avocado farm in Bonsall in Northern San Diego County. Jason Mraz is an active supporter of several charities including VH1's Save The Music Foundation, MusiCares, Free the Children, Life Rolls On and SPARC. He has been named the 2010 SIMA Humanitarian of the Year. He also received the Clean Water Award in 2010 from the Surfrider Foundation. The same year, he also teamed up with The Nature Conservancy and created a PSA using his song I'm Yours to raise awareness about the non-profit organization's efforts to protect the earth. Jason performed at Farm Aid 2011 on August 13 in Kansas City.

In 2011, Jason Mraz appeared in the Visit California promotional film aimed at boosting tourism from the UK.