Adam Duritz

Adam Fredric Duritz (born August 1, 1964) is an American singer, best known as the frontman for the rock band Counting Crows, for which he serves as a founding member and principal composer. Since its founding in 1991, Counting Crows has sold over 20 million records, released seven studio albums that have been certified gold or platinum, and been nominated for two Grammy Awards and an Academy Award.

Duritz has recorded solo material of his own and has collaborated with other musical acts. He has also founded two record labels, ''E Pluribus Unum'' and ''Tyrannosaurus Records''. His work scoring music for film earned an award from BMI for co-writing the song " Accidentally in Love" for the movie ''Shrek 2''.

Career

Duritz and producer/guitarist David Bryson formed Counting Crows in San Francisco in 1991. When Gary Gersh of Geffen Records heard the band's demo tape, he was "blown away". A bidding war between nine different record labels broke out in February 1992. In April, the band—which, by that time, included other members—"signed a deal with Gersh and Geffen believed to be so lucrative that industry wags dubbed them Accounting Crows".

The band's first album, '' August and Everything After'', charted within the top five of the ''Billboard'' 200, and the single " Mr. Jones" (1993) was a number-one hit in Canada. After the band performed as the music guest on ''Saturday Night Live'', "Mr. Jones" jumped 40 spots in the charts. The album has been certified 7× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Six of the band's albums have charted on the ''Billboard'' 200 and four have been certified gold or platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Counting Crows was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 1994. The band also received a 2004 Academy Award nomination for the song " Accidentally in Love", which was included in the film ''Shrek 2''.

Duritz has collaborated with The Wallflowers (led by Jakob Dylan) on the album '' Bringing Down the Horse'' on the track "6th Avenue Heartache"; with Ryan Adams on ''Gold'' and the song "Butterfly in Reverse" from ''Hard Candy''; with Peter Stuart on ''Propeller'' and '' Daisy''; with Live on '' V'';, with Dashboard Confessional on the track "So Long, So Long" from '' Dusk and Summer'', with Maria Taylor on the song "Waiting In Line", and with Nanci Griffith on the song "Going Back to Georgia" on her album Flyer.

Duritz also contributed the songs "Spin Around", "You Don't See Me", and "You're a Star" to the '' Josie and the Pussycats'' soundtrack that was performed by the film's fictional title band. Along with bandmates Dan Vickrey, Bryson, and Immerglück, Duritz co-wrote the song " Accidentally in Love" for the soundtrack of the movie ''Shrek 2'', winning them each an award from BMI in 2005.

Duritz's lyrics have been described as "morose" and "tortured" and as "wordy introspection", while his vocals have been called "expressive".

In October 2018, Duritz co-founded the Underwater Sunshine Music Festival.

Duritz co-founded the record label ''E Pluribus Unum'' in 1997. Before the label was purchased by new ownership, Duritz had signed Joe 90, Gigolo Aunts, and Neilson Hubbard. In 2007, Duritz launched a record label called ''Tyrannosaurus Records''. Debut artists on the label included Notar and Blacktop Mourning. , the label was defunct.

Duritz was executive producer for the film '' The Locusts'' and produced the ensemble comedy film '' Freeloaders''. He appeared in the 2007 mockumentary film '' Farce of the Penguins''.

Duritz features prominently in Brian T. Atkinson's ''Love at the Five and Dime: The Songwriting Legacy of Nanci Griffith'' (Texas A&M University Press, 2024).

Personal life

Duritz was born in 1964 in Baltimore, Maryland to Gilbert and Linda Duritz, both physicians. He has a younger sister, Nicole. Duritz is Jewish. His family lived near Pimlico. They moved to California when he was a child. He graduated from Head-Royce School in Oakland, California and attended the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in English, although he later dropped out. He credited his college experience to learning about writing and epistemology. He is a fan of the California Golden Bears.

Duritz has dissociative mental health issues. He disclosed this mental health issue publicly in 2008 and has noted his struggles with his relationships due to his issues.

Duritz briefly dated actress Jennifer Aniston in 1995 after mutual friends got them together at The Viper Room. He has also been linked to Courteney Cox and Mary Louise Parker. Duritz worked as a bartender at the venue for a period of time after the suicide of Kurt Cobain to help keep his head clear.

In the summer of 2009, he started dating Emmy Rossum. The pair broke up in 2010.

In August 2019, Duritz—who had "rocked voluminous dreadlocks" since Counting Crows was formed—traveled to London to shave them. He had previously revealed that the dreadlocks were extensions.

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Duritz, Adam
1964 births
Taft School alumni
American male bloggers
American bloggers
American male singers
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American rock pianists
American male pianists
American tenors
Capitol Records artists
Counting Crows members
Living people
Singers from California
American alternative rock singers
American alternative rock musicians
Singers from Baltimore
Jewish American rock musicians
Songwriters from Maryland
20th-century American singers
20th-century American pianists