Jordan Maron
Jordan Maron (born February 10, 1992), also known by his online alias CaptainSparklez, is an American YouTuber, Twitch streamer, gamer, and electronic musician. Maron is primarily known for playing the video game "Minecraft", which is featured on his main channel, CaptainSparklez, and the channel CaptainSparklez 2. His main channel is currently the 755th most-subscribed channel on YouTube with over 11.2 million subscribers as of August 2021. Maron's first channel, ProsDONTtalkSHIT, was created in February 2010 and featured gameplay from the video game "". Maron later created his main channel CaptainSparklez in July 2010, uploading both "Minecraft" and  Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 gameplay before focusing mainly on "Minecraft". Maron has produced several "Minecraft"-themed songs and music videos, most notably "Revenge", a parody of "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" by Usher, featuring vocals from himself and TryHardNinja. Other notable Minecraft music videos include his "Fallen Kingdom" tetralogy and "TNT". On his other channels, Maron also uploads reaction videos and gameplay of various other games including "Fortnite" and "Trials Fusion". Maron is an electronic music enthusiast, having used tracks from the label Monstercat on gameplay videos. He has experimented with music production himself. On March 27, 2016 , he created Maron Music, a music promotion channel where he would share other artists' music, as well as his own original music. "Moonbeam" was the first of his tracks to be uploaded to the channel. Beginning in early 2017, Maron uploaded videos featuring his reactions and commentary to various communities on Reddit. This led to a temporary decrease in "Minecraft"-related content. Maron ultimately decided they were not what his core audience enjoyed watching. He proceeded to create the channel Jordan Reacts, where he continued to upload Reddit reaction videos, and refocused on making "Minecraft" videos for his main channel. In  January 2020, Maron announced his official clothing brand, Quality Content Athletics. Throughout 2020, it has sold various workout and lifestyle apparel. In July 2021, he rebranded QC Athletics to Quality Content. Early life. Maron was born in Los Angeles, California. At four years old, he and his mother moved to Santa Barbara. He attended Santa Barbara High School, beginning in ninth grade. Maron then went to the University of California, Santa Barbara as a chemical engineering major. He then decided to switch his major to computer science midway through his freshman year, based on his interest in video games. After  the first quarter of his sophomore year, he dropped out. In December 2011, he made YouTube his full-time job. Career. Maron owns a total of eleven YouTube channels. Four of his channels are currently active. On February 9, 2010, he created his first channel titled ProsDONTtalkSHIT (PDTS) where he primarily uploaded gameplay videos of "". When PDTS began to become more popular, Maron decided he wanted a less vulgar name. He created a new channel named CaptainSparklez on July 20, 2010, and left PDTS inactive. Nearly two years later 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. On May 15, 2015, he created a channel called CaptainSparklez 2, where he uploaded unedited Twitch live streams and videos and other content he felt did not belong on his main channel. On March 27, 2016, he created Maron Music, a music promotion channel where he would share other artists' music, as well as his own original music. On February 9, 2017, Maron created a dedicated channel for personal vlogs. Maron later created  Fortnite Cinema, a channel which featured short films created in the game "Fortnite Battle Royale". In early 2017, Maron began to upload videos featuring his reactions to top Reddit posts to his main channel. These reaction videos gained popularity, but, in the end Maron decided they were not what his core audience enjoyed. As a result, Maron created a new channel called Jordan Reacts on August 11, 2018, where he continued to upload Reddit reaction videos, and refocused on making "Minecraft" videos for his main channel. Maron's next channel is Jordan Games, where he uploads gameplay videos that would  be irrelevant on his main channel. His newest channels are Jordan Lifts, featuring him lifting weights in his home gym, and SparkleShorts, containing small shots from various videos from the CaptainSparklez YouTube and Twitch channels. Maron was featured in the 2016 "Forbes" 30 Under 30 list. In June 2016, he made an appearance in the . XREAL. Maron started a mobile gaming company called XREAL with Howard Marks, co-founder and former CEO of Activision and co-founder of Acclaim Games 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, parent company of Bethesda Softworks, known for the "Fallout" series, sent a cease and desist 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". 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. Discography. Section::::"TNT". On February 26, 2011, he released his first "Minecraft" music video, "TNT", a parody of Taio Cruz's "Dynamite", with vocals from singer TryHardNinja. In late 2015, the video was made private at the request of Maron's network and replaced by a new video with original music. In May 2018, the original video was made public again. 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. Section::::"Revenge". On August 19, 2011 , he released his second "Minecraft" music video titled "Revenge", which is a parody of Usher's "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love". The video has over 250 million views, making it the most viewed video on Maron's channel as well as the most viewed "Minecraft"-related video on YouTube. In late 2015, along with "TNT", it was made private and replaced by a new video with original music. In May 2018, along with "TNT", the original video and audio were restored. In July 2019, following the 10th anniversary of "Minecraft", the song received renewed attention as an internet meme. This  has led to "Revenge" reaching the number one spot on Genius' Top Songs chart. Maron acknowledged the song's popularity in November 2019, releasing a parody of Genius' lyric videos about "Revenge". Maron created a parody video called ""Minecraft" Style", based on "Gangnam Style" by South Korean entertainer PSY, that used animated "Minecraft" models. According to MSN, within a few days, it had more than a million views. The video was referenced in technology and gaming articles published by NBC, "The Daily Telegraph", Mashable 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. Section::::"Fallen Kingdom" series. Maron is also known for his "Fallen Kingdom" series of four Minecraft music videos. They depict a storyline of a king and his son of a fictional kingdom in the "Minecraft" universe. The first installment of the series, "Fallen Kingdom", was released on April 1, 2012. The video's music is a parody of the Coldplay song "Viva la Vida," with lyrics changed to fit elements of Minecraft as well as to tie into the narrative of the video, which shows a king wandering through a ruined  town he once ruled, interspersed with flashbacks revealing what happened to the town. The video currently is the second-most-viewed video on Maron's channel, with over 146 million views. The second video in the series, "Take Back the Night", was released on August 31, 2013. The video, at over 143 million views, is the third-most-viewed video on Maron's channel, after "Fallen Kindom". The video contains the titular track, an original song by TryHardNinja, and tells the story of what happened to the son of the king from "Fallen Kingdom". It shows a prince, the son  of the king in "Fallen Kingdom", being taken in and raised by villagers due to his father's absence, later pursuing and defeating the character Herobrine after an attack on the village. The third video in the series, "Find The Pieces", was released on April 25, 2015. The video currently has over 36 million views and is the fifth-most-viewed video on Maron's channel. The video contains another original song by TryHardNinja, called "Pieces", and is a continuation of the story of the king's son, who is looking for his father. In the course of the song , he leaves his village, and battles a Wither. He is reunited with his father at the music video's end. The fourth and final video in the series, "Dragonhearted", was released on November 19, 2016. The video currently has over 25 million views. The video contains yet another original TryHardNinja song, for which the video is named, and brings the tale of the king and his son to completion. The song ends with the self-sacrifice of the son. Various "Minecraft" music videos. On May 27, 2017, Maron released a "Minecraft" music video for the song "Rush Over Me" by  Seven Lions, Illenium, and Said the Sky, featuring vocalist Haliene. The video has gained over 3.2 million views. On September 9, 2017, Maron released a "Minecraft" music video for the song "We Are the Night” by Madison Mars, featuring vocalist Sanjana Ghosh. The upload has received over 3.1 million views. Section::::"Turn It Up". On January 13, 2018, Maron released "Turn It Up", an original "Minecraft" music video, again featuring vocals from TryHardNinja. Unlike his previous music videos, "Turn It Up" appears to take place in a modern city setting within "Minecraft". Maron Music. The following lists rank tracks and songs  promoted under the Maron Music channel by views and plays.