Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It currently consists of lead vocalist Adam Levine, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine, drummer Matt Flynn, keyboardist PJ Morton and multi-instrumentalist and bassist Sam Farrar. +more
After self-releasing their independent album We Like Digging?, the band signed to Reprise Records and released the album The Fourth World in 1997. The album garnered a tepid response, after which the record label dropped the band and the members focused on college. +more
The band's second album It Won't Be Soon Before Long was released in May 2007. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart and the lead single "Makes Me Wonder", became the band's first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. +more
In 2014, Carmichael rejoined the band alongside Morton to record the fifth album V (roman numeral pronounced "five"), with the band signed to Interscope Records and Levine's own label 222 Records. Following the release of V, it reached number one on the Billboard 200. +more
History
1994-2001: Kara's Flowers and the formation of Maroon 5
Adam Levine was introduced to Ryan Dusick by a mutual friend and guitarist, Adam Salzman. Levine was 15 years old, and Dusick was 16. +more
Dusick and Madden attended college locally at University of California, Los Angeles, while Levine and Carmichael relocated to the East coast to attend Five Towns College, in Dix Hills, Long Island, New York. While Levine and Carmichael were in New York, they began to take notice of the urban music surrounding them and later let the style influence the songs they wrote.
When the band returned in 2001, they brought those influences with them. Sam Farrar (bassist of the band Phantom Planet) explained that the Aaliyah song "Are You That Somebody?" affected the band and influenced the song "Not Coming Home". +more
Berkman encouraged Diener and Boxenbaum to fly out to Los Angeles to watch a showcase gig at The Viper Room for the four-piece Kara's Flowers. After watching Levine onstage, they were convinced. +more
2002-2006: Songs About Jane and Dusick's departure
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James Valentine attended Berklee College of Music with John Mayer in 1996, where they developed a rapport. In 2002, the two reconnected at a Mayer radio broadcast. +more
Songs About Jane eventually reached No. 1 on the Australian albums (ARIA), while "Harder to Breathe" made the Top 20 singles charts in the US and UK, and Top 40 in Australia and New Zealand. +more
2007-2008: It Won't Be Soon Before Long
After recording for eight months, Maroon 5's second album It Won't Be Soon Before Long, was released worldwide in May 2007 by A&M Octone Records. Levine described the follow-up to Songs About Jane is "sexier and stronger", gaining inspiration from iconic 80s artists such as Prince, Shabba Ranks, Michael Jackson and Talking Heads. +more
To support the album, the band performed on a ten-date club tour in which visited small venues in Europe and the United States from April to June 2007. The band followed with a concert that streamed live via MSN Music in mid-June. +more
2009-2012: Hands All Over
Levine stated that he believed the band was reaching its peak and may make one more album before disbanding. He explained, "Eventually I want to focus on being a completely different person because I don't know if I want to do this into my 40s and 50s and beyond, like the Rolling Stones". +more
In January 2009, Maroon 5 performed at the Renaissance Hotel in +more
Maroon 5's third studio album was recorded in mid 2009 in Switzerland, where the band was joined by record producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange. During the band's time on touring along with artists and groups are served as opening acts for the Back to School Tour in November, with Kate Earl and Fitz and the Tantrums and the Palm Trees & Power Lines Tour in 2010, with OneRepublic, Bruno Mars, Kris Allen, Ry Cuming, VV Brown, Owl City and actor Jason Segel, respectively. +more
On July 12, 2011, the band re-released the album Hands All Over, just to include their summer hit "Moves like Jagger" featuring Christina Aguilera. The song premiered live on The Voice on June 21 and reached the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in September 2011. +more
In November 2011, Maroon 5 performed "Moves Like Jagger" and "Stereo Hearts" with Travie McCoy on Saturday Night Live on November 5. On November 20, 2011, the band also performed the same songs along with Aguilera and Gym Class Heroes at the 2011 American Music Awards, where the band won their first AMA for Favorite Pop Band/Duo/Group. +more
2012: Carmichael's hiatus and Overexposed
On March 9, 2012, Maroon 5 announced that Jesse Carmichael would take a break from performing with the group for an undetermined amount of time to focus more on his studies of "music and the healing arts" and was replaced by a new keyboardist and background vocalist PJ Morton, who had been touring with them since 2010 and who became a full-time band member, as Morton gained little success as an R&B artist.
As Maroon 5 continued to work on their fourth studio album Overexposed, which was released on June 26, 2012. Levine stated that Overexposed is their "most diverse and poppiest album yet". +more
At the start of their Overexposed Tour in South America, Maroon 5 introduced the newest addition in the band to the audience: their old and close friend Sam Farrar on guitars, occasionally on the bass guitar, percussion, additional keyboards, backing vocals and providing samples and other special effects (using the MPC). Farrar co-wrote and co-produced a few of the band's songs on almost all of their studio albums and also remixed their song "Woman" on Call and Response: The Remix Album, released in 2008 (from the Spider-Man 2 soundtrack). +more
2013-2016: V, return of Carmichael and lineup changes
In April 2013, James Valentine said the band was in the studio recording songs for the fifth album: "The stuff we're working on now, it definitely has gone maybe a little darker in its sound, maybe back a little bit more to what we kind of did on Songs About Jane, but at this point, we do have all kinds of different songs and it is early".
Later, the band announced it would headline the 2013 Honda Civic Tour, with special guest Kelly Clarkson. The tour began on August 1, and concluded on October 6, 2013, comprising 33 dates.
In February 2014, Maroon 5 appeared to perform "All My Loving" and "Ticket to Ride" on the CBS show The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of The Beatles' arrival in the United States in 1964.
On April 15, 2014, Jesse Carmichael confirmed that his hiatus from the band was complete and he reunited with the band in time to record for the album. With Carmichael's return along with PJ Morton, the band's lineup grew to six members.
In May 2014, Maroon 5 transferred from A&M Octone Records, when they signed with Interscope Records (in partnership with Adam Levine's label 222 Records) and announced their fifth studio album V (pronounced: "five"), which was released on September 2, 2014. The album was also released on a limited-edition ZinePak. +more
After releasing the album, it reached number one on the US Billboard 200 chart on September 10, 2014. V received mixed reviews from critics. +more
"Sugar" was released as the third single from the album on January 13, 2015. A music video was released on January 14, 2015, where the band traveling around Los Angeles and performing at random weddings. +more
During the time, Maroon 5 headlined a worldwide tour entitled Maroon V Tour, in support of the album. Throughout the tour, artists Magic!, Rozzi Crane, Matt McAndrew, Tove Lo, +more
The band released their first greatest hits album Singles, on September 25, 2015, through 222 and Interscope. It contains 12 singles taken from the first five albums. +more
The same year, Sam Farrar who had been touring and collaborated with Maroon 5, appears in the band's promotional photo, where he became a new official member.
2017-2018: Red Pill Blues
In January 2017, Adam Levine revealed that the band was working on their sixth studio album. According to Levine, the album would be R&B-influenced. +more
This album includes four singles: "Don't Wanna Know", "Cold", "What Lovers Do" and "Wait". The re-release of the album to include a remix version of "Girls Like You" featuring Cardi B, which was released in May 2018 and served as the fifth and final single. +more
To support the album, Maroon 5 embarked on the Red Pill Blues Tour, began on May 30, 2018, and concluded on December 31, 2019, along with special guests Julia Michaels, Cxloe and Sigrid. In June 2018, the band collaborated with Hyundai, to record a cover version of Bob Marley and the Wailers' "Three Little Birds", was released as a single on iTunes and featured with three vehicles are appeared on the advertisements for Hyundai Santa Fe and Kona in the 2018 FIFA World Cup and Nexo in the song's official music video both were directed by Joseph Kahn. +more
2019-present: Madden's leave of absence and Jordi
On February 3, 2019, Maroon 5 headlined the Super Bowl LIII halftime show in Atlanta, Georgia, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with American rappers Big Boi and Travis Scott. The band's decision to participate, despite the +more
On September 20, 2019, Maroon 5 released the song "Memories", which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. The following month, guitarist James Valentine revealed the details about the band working on their new album, stating: "It does foreshadow a new album, which we’re currently in the studio working on. +more
On June 27, 2020, bassist Mickey Madden was arrested in Los Angeles due to an allegation of domestic violence. He took a leave of absence from Maroon 5 after his arrest. +more
In July 2020, Maroon 5 announced the single "Nobody's Love", which was released on July 24. On December 16, 2020, Levine revealed their seventh studio album was set for release in 2021. +more
In September 2021, Maroon 5 headlined on a television tribute special titled Shine a Light: A Tribute to the Families of 9/11, aired on CNN to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks in New York City.
In May 2022, Maroon 5 conducted a concert at the pyramids of Giza in Cairo, featuring most of their famous songs. PJ Morton stated that the band's performance in Egypt was better than their 2019 Super Bowl performance.
Musical style and influences
[wiki_quote=130e28c6] Maroon 5's musical style has generally been regarded as pop, pop rock, funk rock, dance-pop, blue-eyed soul, neo soul, soft rock, and indie rock. Adam Levine has stated: "Everything that's written and performed and put together pretty much comes from us. +more
Adam Levine cited Britpop band Oasis as "one of the best bands ever" and said "We love Oasis". The band has cited Michael Jackson, The Beatles, The Police, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder, the Bee Gees, Tonic, Prince, Tupac Shakur and Marvin Gaye as influences. +more
The band's style changes from album to album. Songs About Jane consists of songs about Levine's ex-girlfriend Jane Herman. +more
Controversies
In an interview with Variety in November 2018, the frontman of the band, Adam Levine, when asked if the band is pop, rock or urban, said, "Something unique to this band is that we have always looked to hip-hop, R&B, all rhythmic forms of music, from back when we were writing our first album to now. Rock music is nowhere, really. +more
On February 27, 2020, the band performed at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival in Chile. The performance, which began 29 minutes late, was listed as "mediocre" by part of the press. +more
Band members
Current members * Adam Levine - lead vocals, rhythm and lead guitar (1994-present) * Jesse Carmichael - keyboards (2001-2012, 2014-present), backing vocals (1994-2012, 2014-present), rhythm guitar (1994-2001, 2009-2012, 2014-present), lead guitar (1994-2001) * James Valentine - lead and rhythm guitar (2001-present), backing vocals (2006-present) * Matt Flynn - drums, percussion (2006-present; touring member 2004-2006) * PJ Morton - keyboards, backing vocals (2012-present; touring member 2010-2012) * Sam Farrar - bass (2020-present), samples, keyboards, rhythm and lead guitars, percussion, backing vocals (2016-present; touring member 2012-2016)
Former members * Ryan Dusick - drums, percussion (1994-2006), backing vocals (2001-2006) * Mickey Madden - bass (1994-2020)
Discography
Studio albums
* Songs About Jane (2002) * It Won't Be Soon Before Long (2007) * Hands All Over (2010) * Overexposed (2012) * V (2014) * Red Pill Blues (2017) * Jordi (2021)
as Kara's Flowers
* We Like Digging? (1995) * The Fourth World (1997) * Stagg Street Recordings (1999)
Awards and recognition
Maroon 5 have been the recipients of three Grammy Awards, three American Music Awards, and three People's Choice Awards, with five Teen Choice Awards, and eight Billboard Music Awards. In 2004 World Music Awards, it won the award for "World's Best New Group".
Hands All Over, the band's third studio album, which was released in September 2010, peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 charts. In 2011, the album was re-released and supported by the single "Moves like Jagger", a song featuring American singer Christina Aguilera. +more
Maroon 5 ranked 15 on Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) "Top Artists - Digital Singles" list, with certified sales of 15 million in the United States. In 2013, Maroon 5 became the third most-played artist on Top 40 Mainstream radio, based on Clear Channel owned Mediabase, becoming one of the most successful acts of Interscope Records. +more
In 2013, Maroon 5 ranked as the 94th best artist of all time based on Top 100 Artists of All Time at Billboard Hot 100 55th Anniversary.
In August 2018, the band was ranked 37th and 11th on Billboard's Hot 100 60th Anniversary Greatest of All Time and on Billboard's "The Top 60 Duos/Groups of All Time" respectively.
In January 2020, the band was listed number nine on the Billboard Top Artists of the 2010s chart.
Tours
Headlining * Songs About Jane Tour (2003-2005) * 2005 Honda Civic Tour (2005) * It Won't Be Soon Before Long Tour (2007-2008) * Palm Trees & Power Lines Tour (2010) * Hands All Over Tour (2011-2012) * Overexposed Tour (2012-2014) * Maroon V Tour (2015-2018) * Red Pill Blues Tour (2018-2019) * 2020 Tour (2020-2022)
Co-headlining * 2008 Summer Tour (2008) (with Counting Crows) * 2011 Summer Tour (2011) (with Train) * 2013 Honda Civic Tour (2013) (with Kelly Clarkson)
Promotional * The Club Tour (2007) * Back to School Tour (2009)
Opening act * Jeep World Outside Festival (2002) (with various artists) * Any Time Now Tour (+more
Philanthropy
Since 2008, Maroon 5 has partnered with environmental non-profit REVERB to green their tours and engage fans to take action for the environment. * Maroon 5 has been a longtime supporter of Aid Still Required (ASR). +more
Publications
Maroon 5 - Midnight Miles: On the Road Through 5 Continents & 17 Countries, MTV Books (July 18, 2006) *Chloë Govan - Maroon 5: Shooting for the Stars, Omnibus Press (October 14, 2013) *Ryan Dusick - Harder to Breathe: A Memoir of Making Maroon 5, Losing It All, and Finding Recovery, BenBella Books (November 15, 2022)
1994 establishments in California
222 Records artists
A&M Records artists
American pop rock music groups
American soul musical groups
Funk rock musical groups
Grammy Award winners
Interscope Records artists
Musical groups established in 1994
Musical groups disestablished in 1999
Musical groups reestablished in 2001
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Polydor Records artists
World Music Awards winners
Latest activity









