Age: 49
male
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Jason Thomas Mraz (born June 23, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter, born and raised in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Mraz's stylistic influences include reggae, pop, rock, folk, jazz, bossa nova and hip hop. 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 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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Jason Mraz, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
The Novotný family can't longer live in Czechoslovakia and pretend that communism is great and they were doing well, it was not true and everyone knew it. They had it worse because they are Christians, which meant that they were insulted by people devoted to communism, like teachers, people in offices, or higher-ranking workers in the company, but the worst was the frequent interrogations by STB policemen. Novotny had a dream to live in America. Getting from the ČSSR to the West was complicated in the 70s. The communist authorities tried to reduce emigration to a minimum, and if someone was released from the wired Soviet territory, his relatives (spouse, children) had to stay at home as hostages, as insurance, and if the person did not return, then the family was over. A passport was not enough to travel, an exit clause and a promise of foreign currency were also required, all of that was conditioned by many assessments on the basis of which the state apparatus decided. 3 people knew about the emigration: Monica's brother Petr, Tomáš's sister Lucie and friend Karel. They went to the station, where several checks awaited them and also in train. They got across a border to Austria, where Jakub and Sára waited, they lived there for a while and then quickly to USA. When they saw Statue of Liberty from the plane window, they cried. Even life in new homeland isn't easy, but in America it is wonderful. The Novotnys changed their name to Newman and opened a shoe store in Brooklyn.
