Adam Duritz

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 co-founded 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. As of 2015, the label was defunct.

He appeared in the 2007 mockumentary film Farce of the Penguins.

Duritz suffers from a dissociative mental health issue. He disclosed this mental health issue publicly in 2008.

In October 2009, Duritz was reported to be dating Shameless actress Emmy Rossum, with whom he had toured during the summer of 2009. The couple broke up in September 2010. Duritz was reported to be unmarried as of August 2014. He has dated Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox.

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

In August 2019, Duritz—who had "rocked voluminous dreadlocks" since Counting Crows was formed—revealed that he had shaved his head.