Jonah Marais

**Jonah Frantzich** (born June 16, 1998), known professionally as **Jonah Marais**, is an American singer-songwriter and part of the musical group Why Don't We. He is the eldest member of the band. He gained a fanbase through YouNow, a live-streaming video site.

## Biography

Jonah Marais Roth Frantzich was born in Stillwater, Minnesota, to Carrie and Timothy Frantzich. His parents used to come up to the small town called "Grand Marais" every summer. One year they couldn't because he was born when their trip was scheduled, which is where part of his namesake derived from. He has three siblings: Zebulon Frantzich (born December 26, 1991), Esther Frantzich (born March 31, 2000), and Svea Frantzich (born March 21, 2007).

Marais taught himself to play instruments and to sing. When he was in sixth grade he did his first talent show, which was a piano cover of John Lennon's "Imagine". Everyone in his family is musically talented, and sang wherever they could, including at fairs, and churches. They once sang Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" at a corner outside a bakery. Marais grew up playing baseball when he was a freshman in high school. He played on teams that won tournaments and thought he would become a major league baseball player. Near the end of his freshman year, however, his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and to keep his mind off, started to use the Internet as an escape.

Marais used the platform YouNow in 2014, and at the end of summer gained 10K followers, and was able to do social media tours through this. Halfway in his tenth grade he dropped out of school to fully pursue his musical career. His first live performance was at DigiFest in front of 7000 people. He also met his future band mates Corbyn Besson, Jack Avery, and Zach Herron through touring. On July 7, 2015, his first released single "I Meant It" was dropped along with its music video in August the same year. In March 2016 his single "War Paint" was released and served as the lead track for his first debut EP *When the Daylight's Gone* in April 2016. He also went on his own solo tour. "Next Ex Girlfriend" (featuring the Potash Twins) was his last solo song prior to joining the band Why Don't We, which was four days later officially announced.

## Musical style and influences

Ed Sheeran is one of his biggest inspirations, which he told in a iHeartRadio interview. His father was also in a band and is his biggest mentor.

## Personal life

### Relationships

Danielle Nicole "Dani" Calleiro (née Cimorelli) is a singer, YouTuber, and graphic designer, formerly the youngest member of the group Cimorelli. She left the group in January 2020 and started her own YouTube channel, 'Dani Calleiro'. Marais dated Dani from August-October 2014. Calleiro made a video about the relationship in 2015, as part of the Cimorelli Storytime series, without taking his name, and made another video on her own channel in 2020, where she did drop his name, as many people already knew about the relationship by then. Marais mentioned their relationship in the band's book, *Why Don't We: In the Limelight* (2018). After their breakup, the two maintained their distance. The two respect each other but prefer not to talk about each other. Contrary to popular belief, "Perfect" is not about Calleiro, as Marais didn't consider the relationship as "serious". There is also no evidence in their relationship that matches up with the lyrics of the song. However, Cimorelli's song "Before October's Gone" is based on their relationship. Marais even promoted the album on Twitter in 2016, proving there is no bad blood between them.

He dated Alyssa Longoria (née Shouse) sometime near the end of 2014-2015. They released a cover of One Direction's "Little Things" together. There was some controversy over the relationship at the time, since she was three years older than him. Despite their breakup, they remain good friends.

He and Tatum "Tate" Dahl met on set when filming the music video "Trust Fund Baby". Their relationship was kept private, but fans have speculated that they've been dating since 2018. They are no longer together, yet nothing was officially announced in 2020. Based off her Instagram, she has removed her highlight stories about Marais and the band. Marais confirmed they'd broken up, but not much information was provided on the cause. Over several videos, Dahl addressed that their relationship was toxic, where there were a lot of personal sacrifices just to maintain their relationship. Due to conflicting work schedules and keeping their relationship a secret, it can be suggested this is why they split up. She also addressed the misogynistic dating in the music industry, where women would typically be subjected to hatred online, opposed to men.

### Tattoos

Marais has 11 known tattoos as of November 2019. The loon was the first tattoo he ever got, which is the Minnesota state bird. The sun is for his Grandma, "Sunny", who was one of his biggest supporters. There is an eagle on his wrist (March 10, 2019), the palm tree on his forearm (May 23, 2018), the baseball diamond, 1998 (his birth year) and the outline of the state of Minnesota which is his hometown with a lake by his house, the bridge, and the Minneapolis skyline (September 14, 2018). He has the lightening bolt for spontaneity, "Breathe Deep" on his ankle (July 28, 2018), a banana which he got in Nashville while on tour along with a few friends, and the tiger because he was born in the year of the tiger and it is his favorite animal (September 26, 2019).

"Breathe deep"*state of minnesota, his hometown**eagle*"1998"
*year of birth**baseball diamond**tiger; favorite animal & born in year of the tiger*
## Discography

Main article: Jonah Marais discography

See also: Discography

## Quotes

* ""you support gay rights so you must be gay"
 I support animal rights do I look like a freaking llama to you"
* "i just had this dream where i saw corbyn and he had diamonds all over his teeth like lil wayne, and i went up to him and was like “yo are we in a dream, or is this real life” and he just winked at me and said “we’re in a dream bro” then i woke up."
* "I can't eat on a full stomach."
* "i just had the coolest dream where we were in the world of harry potter and daniel and i were on broomsticks chasing the fastest all white dragon through the air, and we were casting spells at it cuz it was going to destroy hogwarts. i was honestly so sad to wake up"
* "new zealand is the greatest country in the world, i’m moving there next month!!"

## Trivia

* He used to play baseball.
* His loves *Harry Potter* and is a fan of *Wizards of Waverly Place*.
* If he could time travel, he'd go to the year 3042, he told Z100.
* He was selected to be the messiest in the band, leaving his clothes on the ground back in 2017, though gradually the band admitted that they all were messy in later interviews.
* His great grandma came from Finland to the United States.
* His first crush he remembers was in kindergarten, and her name was Zinnia. On a playground there was a monster truck and they hid in it and kissed. It was also his first kiss.
* His first "real kiss" was in seventh grade during a summer camp in Maine and there was girl who was three years older. They just looked at each other before kissing. After realizing that he didn't know what he was doing, she "taught him" how to kiss.
* His celebrity crush is Camila Cabello.
* He had a pet snake and a hedgehog.
* He was in the popular group with the jocks but wished he had a smaller friend group. He felt that he never fit in.
* He had a dog named Huckleberry.
* He has a lot of expressions with his eyebrows.
* His favorite movie is *About Time*.
* His binge television show to watch is *How I Met Your Mother*.
* His biggest splurge was before he joined the band and spent money on a red Camaro.
* His overused emoji is the wink face.
* His favorite holiday is the Fourth of July.
* His favorite cereal is Fruity Pebbles.
* His biggest fear is tornados.
* His worst fear is scary movies.
* His biggest idol is Paul McCartney.
* He wishes he could be more confident because in certain situations he's really shy.
* His favorite food is Thai.
* His favorite animal is the tiger.
* He considers his biggest quirk is that he's superstitious.
* If he was president he would want to solve world hunger.
* He didn't have a cell phone until eighth grade.
* He hates cottage cheese, horseradish, and raisins.
* He can knit and knows how to cross-stitch, crochet, and quilt.
* He hates horror movies. When his band mates went to watch *It* he stayed behind.
* In third grade he broke his nose when sledding.
* He learned to read from baseball cards.
* As a kid he loved to vacuum and his favorite gift was a Dustbuster.
* One time he told his mother he was giving up salad and church for Lent.
* He considers himself a decent cook, especially for breakfast.
* His favorite app to use is Twitter, while his band mates prefer Instagram.
* He likes the ice cream flavor mint chip, but calls it "peppermint bon bon".
* If he had 24 hours left to live, he would cry and then go to Dairy Queen and get a Blizzard.
* In fourth grade he was interested in two girls who were friends. He called one of them and asked her out, but got rejected. However, he then proceeded to ask the friend, who also said no.
* Growing up he was not allowed to play shooting games.
* He got his palm tree tattoo in Paris.

## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 *Why Don't We: In the Limelight*. Chapter 4: The Old Soul: Jonah. Pages 116-149
2. ↑ @jonahmarais ("this place means a lot to me..."). *Instagram*. July 7, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
3. ↑ "'Why Don't We' Talks Hair Styling Rituals and Stories from the Road". *WiLD 94.9*. August 10, 2017.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "15 Why Don't We Facts That May Surprise You". *Z100*. January 11, 2018.
5. ↑ "Jonah Marais". *Twitter*. May 17, 2016.
6. ↑ "Tate talking about her toxic relationship with Jonah and the music industry". *YouTube*. October 27, 2021.
7. ↑ @JonahMarais. *Twitter*. June 26, 2015.
8. ↑ @JonahMarais. *Twitter*. February 21, 2018.
9. ↑ "Why Don’t We talks new album, fans, and their favorite song!". March 6, 2018.
10. ↑ @JonahMarais. *Twitter*. May 22, 2019.
11. ↑ @JonahMarais. *Twitter*. May 26, 2019.
12. ↑ Kotler, Hannah. "10 Things You Didn't Known About Jonah Marais". *Tigerbeat*. June 3, 2018.
13. ↑ "EXCLUSIVE LIVESTREAM #2 with WHY DON'T WE". *YSBnow*. July 12, 2017.
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Why Don’t We paljastaa: "Eka suudelmani oli kamala!" 😱😘". *Eka kerta*. June 12, 2018.
15. ↑ "Mathilde & Lærke interviews Why Don't We - Rise FM Denmark". *Rise FM Denmark*. May 12, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
16. ↑ "Zach Dillon Catches Up with Why Don't We at KDWB Star Party". *kdwb1013*. June 11, 2018.
17. ↑ "Why Don't We - Who Knows Each Other Best?". *Radio Disney*. October 15, 2018.
18. ↑ "103 Questions: Why Don't We". July 17, 2017.
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "@jonahmarais" (livestream). September 27, 2019.
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "#AskJonah". April 8, 2015.
21. ↑ "Where Did Why Don't We Get Their Newest Tattoos? | iHeartRadio Live!". October 30, 2018.

## External links

* Jonah Marais on Apple Music
* Jonah Marais on YouTube
* Jonah Marais on SoundCloud
* Jonah Marais at the Internet Movie Database
* Jonah Marais on Spotify
* Jonah Marais (@JonahMarais) on Twitter
* Jonah Marais (@JonahMarais) on Facebook
* Jonah Marais (@jonahmarais) on Instagram