On Wednesday, May 20th, renowned Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and pop-folk staple Jason Mraz will be returning to Chattanooga with his Still Yours tour, performing signature hits from his illustrious career and his new album, Grandma’s Gospel Favorites.
Mraz first broke through in the early 2000s, finding success first in November of 2002 with his hit song, “The Remedy (I Won’t Worry),” from the debut album Waiting For My Rocket To Come. The song garnered him major attention, and he went on to build on that with his second release, Mr. A-Z, which was nominated for a Grammy.
Then came his third album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. in May of 2008, producing the massively successful hit song, “I’m Yours,” and garnering three Grammy nominations: one for Song of the Year, and another for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, each for "I'm Yours," and a third for Best Engineered Album.
Interestingly enough, “I’m Yours,” his biggest hit to date and one of the defining songs of the early 2000s, did not, ironically, win a Grammy; however, Mraz would go on to win two at the 2010 awards show, one for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for his song, “Make It Mine,” and another, Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, for his song “Lucky,” with Colbie Caillat.
All this success made Mraz one of the biggest pop-folk sensations of the 2000s, putting him on the map in the music world and launching his career. As of May 8th, 2026, Mraz has released a new album, entitled Grandma's Gospel Favorites, which, unlike his familiar pop-acoustic sound, leans heavily into gospel and Americana music, and the project, his ninth studio album, began in 2007 as a gift to his grandmother.
Grandma's Gospel Favorites is more than just a collection of Gospel classics and two original songs; it is a tribute to Mraz’s history and, specifically, his grandmother, “Nanny Razz.” In speaking with the Chattanooga Pulse about what this record means to him, Mraz suggested that the album is about love, family, a little spiritual light, and where his love for music originated.
“This album came from a real place, made for a specific reason, and later, I realized, was a way to honor where I came from. Family songs and gospel traditions carry memory, comfort, and identity, and sometimes you only understand their meaning later in life. This album holds love, longing, gratitude, and a little spiritual light, all traits I inherited from my grandmother.
Gospel is built on comfort, community, and emotional honesty, and revisiting it has reconnected me to my youth and ideas that seeded my core values. This album reminds me of where my love for music began and likely how I ended up as me, seemingly changed in a dramatic way over the last two decades.”
When asked about how his songwriting has evolved since his earlier years, Mraz discussed what songwriting means to him today as opposed to twenty years ago, detailing how he trusts in silence more now and how songwriting now feels like a service to offer something deeper.
“Early on, songwriting was about expression and discovery. Now I’m aiming for clarity, perspective, and a little humor. I trust in silence more; I leave more room for the listener, and I’m less interested in proving something. I’d rather sing something that’s true to me today.
In the early days, songwriting felt like survival and self-definition. Performing felt like a chance to be heard. Now both feel like service, a way to offer something useful and hopefully something healing. The excitement is still there, but it’s deeper, calmer, and more grateful.”
Nearly twenty years later, and I still remember listening to the entirety of his album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. with my fancy remote blue CD player while riding the bus on the way to school. His music certainly changed my life at an early age, and I can only imagine the impact his music has had on countless other aspiring singer-songwriters throughout the years.
Undoubtedly, Jason Mraz has left a lasting impact on the music world over the decades of his work. His latest offering, Grandma's Gospel Favorites, not only connects him back to his roots, but also presents something new and different, filled with love and reverence for a time in life that, although not present today, continues to live on in our memories, like a song, forever.
Jason Mraz
- Wednesday, May 20. 7:30 p.m.
- Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium, 399 McCallie Ave, Chattanooga
- $44-$172.
- tivolichattanooga.com