Jordan Maron (born February 10, 1992), also known by his online

alias Alias may refer to: * Pseudonym * Pen name * Nickname Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Alias'' (2013 film), a 2013 Canadian documentary film * ''Alias'' (TV series), an American action thriller series 2001–2006 * ''Alias the J ...

CaptainSparklez, is an American

YouTuber A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influe ...

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle co ...

streamer Streamer or streamers may refer to: * a person who streams online on an internet platform like twitch or youtube * Pennon, a small pointed flag * Streamer, a kind of confetti consisting of strips of paper or other material * Streamer, a common nam ...

gamer A gamer is a proactive hobbyist who plays interactive games, especially video games, tabletop role-playing games, and skill-based card games, and who plays for usually long periods of time. Some gamers are competitive, meaning they routinely ...

, and musician. Maron is primarily known for playing the video game ''

Minecraft ''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made public in May 2009 before bein ...

'', which is featured on his main channel, CaptainSparklez. his 11 YouTube channels have collectively earned over million subscribers and billion video views, and his main channel is the 281st most-subscribed channel on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

with over 11.3 million subscribers. Maron has produced several ''Minecraft''-themed songs and music videos.

Early life

Maron was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, California. At four years old, he and his mother moved to Santa Barbara. He attended

Santa Barbara High School Santa Barbara Senior High School, "Home of the Dons," is situated on a sprawling campus in Santa Barbara, California in the Santa Barbara Unified School District. Among the oldest high schools in California and one of five high schools in the Di ...

, beginning in ninth grade. Maron then went to the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the ...

as a

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials in ...

major. He then decided to switch his major to

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includin ...

midway through his freshman year, based on his interest in

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

s. After the first quarter of his

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educati ...

year, he dropped out. In December 2011, he made YouTube his full-time job.

Internet career

Content

Maron operates eleven YouTube channels, four of which are currently active. Maron is best known for his internet content in the video game ''

''. Maron releases daily videos, which aided in the creation of his fanbase.

History

On February 9, 2010, he created his first channel titled ProsDONTtalkSHIT (PDTS) where he primarily uploaded gameplay videos of '' Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2''. When the channel became more popular, Maron wanted a less vulgar name. He created a new channel named CaptainSparklez on July 20, 2010, and left PDTS inactive. Maron began creating ''Minecraft'' content in 2010. Maron began livestreaming since 2011 on

justin.tv Justin.tv was a website created by Justin Kan, Emmett Shear, Michael Seibel, and Kyle Vogt in 2007 to allow anyone to broadcast video online. Justin.tv user accounts were called "channels", like those on YouTube, and users were encouraged to b ...

, which was later migrated to

. In April 2012, the CaptainSparklez channel reached 1 million subscribers on YouTube. In September 2013, CaptainSparklez reached 1 billion video views, becoming the fifth solo YouTube gaming channel to reach the milestone behind PewDiePie, SkyDoesMinecraft, UberHaxorNova and TobyGames. Maron started a mobile gaming company called XREAL with Howard Marks, co-founder and former CEO of

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...

and co-founder of

Acclaim Games Acclaim Games Incorporated was an American video game company that offered free massively multiplayer online role-playing games on its website upon registration. The company was founded in 2006 and was the successor to Acclaim Entertainment i ...

and StartEngine. XREAL released their game ''Fortress Fury'' in May 2015, which received over 1.5 million downloads within its first month of launch. ''Fortress Fury'' was originally titled ''Fortress Fallout''; however,

ZeniMax Media ZeniMax Media Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Rockville, Maryland, and founded in 1999. The company owns publisher Bethesda Softworks with its development unit Bethesda Game Studios (developer of ''The Elder Scrolls, ...

, parent company of Bethesda Softworks, known for the ''Fallout'' series, sent a

cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not dis ...

letter which requested that XREAL "immediately expressly abandon the application for ''Fortress Fallout'' and cease any and all current or proposed use of any mark incorporating the term ''Fallout''." The letter was sent to prevent competition in the mobile game market for their game ''

Fallout Shelter A fallout shelter is an enclosed space specially designated to protect occupants from radioactive debris or fallout resulting from a nuclear explosion. Many such shelters were constructed as civil defense measures during the Cold War. Durin ...

''. Maron and the XREAL's legal team were not informed of this, because Bethesda kept ''Shelter'' a secret at the time and did not reveal its existence until its release on June 14, 2015. Maron was featured in the 2016 ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 list. In June 2016, he made an appearance in the sixth episode of '' Minecraft: Story Mode''. On May 28, 2022, Maron was on a winning MC Championship team for the first time.

Musical career

On February 26, 2011, he released his first ''Minecraft'' music video, "TNT", a parody of

Taio Cruz Jacob Taio Cruz (; born Adetayo Ayowale Onile-Ere, 23 April 1980), better known professionally as Taio Cruz (stylized TΛIO CRUZ), is an English singer, songwriter and record producer from London, England, currently based in Los Angeles. In 200 ...

's " Dynamite", with vocals from singer TryHardNinja. The video is currently the fourth-most-viewed video on Maron's channel with over 106 million views, surpassing the number of views of the original song. On August 19, 2011, he released his second ''Minecraft'' music video titled "Revenge", which is a parody of

Usher Usher may refer to: Several jobs which originally involved directing people and ensuring people are in the correct place: * Usher (occupation) ** Church usher ** Wedding usher, one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony ** Fie ...

's "

DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" is a song by American singer Usher (musician), Usher, featuring guest vocals from American rapper Pitbull (rapper), Pitbull, who co-wrote the song with the producers Shellback (record producer), Shellback and Max Mart ...

". The video has over 250 million views, making it the most viewed video on Maron's channel. In July 2019, following the 10th anniversary of ''Minecraft'', the song received renewed attention as an

internet meme An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...

. This has led to "Revenge" reaching the number one spot on

Genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabilit ...

' Top Songs chart. Released April 1, 2012, "Fallen Kingdom" is a parody of

Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey (manager), Phil H ...

's "

Viva la Vida "Viva la Vida" (, ; ) is a song by British rock band Coldplay. It was written by all members of the band for their fourth album, '' Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends'' (2008). The lyrics to the song contain historical and Christian re ...

". Maron created a parody video called "''Minecraft'' Style", based on "

Gangnam Style "Gangnam Style" ( ko, 강남스타일, ) is a K-pop song by South Korean rapper Psy, released on July 15, 2012, by YG Entertainment as the lead single of his sixth studio album, ''Psy 6 (Six Rules), Part 1'' (''Ssai Yukgap Part 1''). The term ...

" by

PSY Park Jae-sang (, ; born December 31, 1977), known professionally as Psy (stylized in all caps as PSY) (; ; ), is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Psy is known domestically for his humorous videos and stage perf ...

, that used animated ''Minecraft'' models. According to

MSN MSN (meaning Microsoft Network) is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps for Windows and mobile devices, provided by Microsoft and launched on August 24, 1995, alongside the release of Windows 95. The Microsoft Net ...

, within a few days, it had more than a million views. The video was referenced in technology and gaming articles published by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

, ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'',

Mashable Mashable is a digital media platform, news website and entertainment company founded by Pete Cashmore in 2005. History Mashable was founded by Pete Cashmore while living in Aberdeen, Scotland, in July 2005. Early iterations of the site were ...

and the '' Huffington Post''. The original video was removed from YouTube due to copyright issues. Since its reupload, the video has gained over 19 million views.

Discography

Music released as Jordan Maron

Singles

Remixes

As featured artist

Awards

*Nominated in 2016 Shorty Awards

Notes

:A . :B

References

External links

CaptainSparklez, his main channel
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maron, Jordan 1992 births American YouTubers Gaming YouTubers Living people Maker Studios people Minecraft YouTubers Music YouTubers People from Santa Barbara, California Twitch (service) streamers Video game commentators YouTube channels launched in 2010