ADAM DURITZ Biography - Musicians

 
 

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ADAM DURITZ

Name: Adam Duritz                                                                         
Born: 1 August 1964                                                                       
                                                                                           
Adam Fredric Duritz (born August 1, 1964 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American           
musician and record producer. He is the lead singer and founding member of the             
rock band Counting Crows. His lyrics have been described as "morose" and "tortured" and   
as "wordy introspection" and his vocals "expressive".                                     
                                                                                           
Adam Duritz was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Early on he moved to Boston, then             
El Paso, Texas, and Berkeley, California. Duritz has lived in San Francisco, Los           
Angeles, Houston, Amsterdam and, most recently, New York City. As a student, he           
attended Head-Royce School, the Taft School, the University of California,                 
Berkeley and the University of California, Davis, but dropped out before earning           
a degree.                                                                                 
                                                                                           
Before forming Counting Crows, he was lead singer for San Francisco Bay Area               
bands, Mod-L Society and The Himalayans. He was also involved in another San               
Francisco-based band, Sordid Humor.                                                       
                                                                                           
He has collaborated with The Wallflowers (led by Bob Dylan's son Jakob Dylan) on           
the album Bringing Down the Horse; 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; and with Dashboard Confessional on the track "So Long, So Long" from                 
Dusk and Summer.                                                                           
                                                                                           
Duritz also contributed songs to the Josie and the Pussycats soundtrack that               
were performed by the film's fictional title band.                                         
                                                                                           
Since coming to fame with Counting Crows, Duritz has maintained an unusually               
open relationship with his fans. This has taken various forms including a diary           
on AOL, and later a blog on the band’s official website. He also reads and               
responds to posts on the band’s messageboard, and recently started a feature             
called AskCrowsAsk where fans can email questions for band members to respond to.         
This relationship has not always been smooth; Duritz has clashed with some fans,           
chastising those involved in flame wars by quipping on his blog, "Some of you             
are [...] incredibly unpleasant people."                                                   
                                                                                           
Duritz has made two attempts to get involved in the music industry as a record             
label owner: in 1997, Duritz co-founded E Pluribus Unum, an independent label.             
Before the label was purchased by Interscope Records in 2000, Duritz signed Joe           
90, Gigolo Aunts, and Neilson Hubbard – all of whom he took on the road to open         
for Counting Crows.                                                                       
                                                                                           
In November 2006, Adam Duritz began production on Chicago pop-punk band Blacktop           
Mourning's debut record under the name "The Devil and Bunny Show" alongside               
Counting Crows guitarist David Immergluck. He later announced, on January 15,             
2007, that he was launching boutique record label Tyrannosaurus Records. His               
debut artists include Notar and Blacktop Mourning. The label also re-released             
the sole album by Duritz's former band The Himalayans.