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Maroon 5
Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, California, US
Genre(s)	Pop rock, funk rock, alternative rock, Blue-eyed soul
Years active	1994–2001 as Kara's Flowers 2002–present as Maroon 5
Label(s)	A&M/Octone
Associated acts	Kara's Flowers Sabado Negro Operation Aloha
Website	www.Maroon5.com
Members
Adam Levine James Valentine Jesse Carmichael Michael Madden Matt Flynn
Former members
Ryan Dusick

Maroon 5 is an American rock band. Since debuting in 2002, the band has sold over 10 million albums in the United States and nearly 15 million world wide. While they were in high school, the four original members of Maroon 5 played in a garage band called Kara's Flowers, which was active from 1994 to 2001. In 2002, the band members reformed as Maroon 5 and released their debut album Songs About Jane, but the album first topped Billboard charts in the US in 2004. Songs About Jane contained four hit singles: "Harder to Breathe", "This Love", "She Will Be Loved", and "Sunday Morning".

Original drummer Ryan Dusick left Maroon 5 in 2006 citing injuries and was replaced by Matt Flynn. Maroon 5's second album It Won't Be Soon Before Long came out in 2007 with singles "Makes Me Wonder", "Won't Go Home Without You", and "Wake Up Call". The band performed throughout the summer and fall of 2007, including a North American tour with The Hives. They followed that with a world tour with New Found Glory. Beginning March 28, 2008, they toured with Counting Crows and Sara Bareilles. In 2005, they won a Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

History

Kara's Flowers and formation of Maroon 5 (1994–2001)

External videos
	Kara's Flowers cameo appearance on Beverly Hills, 90210

The four original members of Maroon 5 have known each other since attending Brentwood School together in Los Angeles.¹² While attending Brentwood School, Adam Levine and Jesse Carmichael joined up with Mickey Madden and Ryan Dusick to form Kara's Flowers,³ a garage/grunge band. The name was taken from a girl that the band had a "collective crush" on.² The band played its first gig at Whisky a Go Go on September 16, 1995. While they were playing a beach party in Malibu, indie producer Tim Allen heard them playing and offered to manage them, which eventually led to their deal with Reprise Records and producer Rob Cavallo.⁴ Very early on, their sound was what Carmichael called "Fugazi and System of a Down [the sound] meets [sic] Sesame Street [the lyrics]". However, by the release of The Fourth World in 1997, they had morphed into band reminiscent of 1960s Brit pop.² Despite high expectations from the band and record company, the album failed to catch on and their lead single, "Soap Disco", was a failure.⁵ According to Levine, the failure of the album was "a huge disappointment" that nearly led them to break up in 1998.²⁶ Levine and Carmichael went to college in Long Island, New York, while Madden and Dusick stayed home in L.A., and attended a semester of college at UCLA.⁶ In the interim, Levine and Carmichael were exposed for the first time to the gospel, hip-hop and R&B of their largely African-American schoolmates.⁷ Levine credits the period with informing the band's new style stating:

When the two returned in 2000, they brought those influences with them.⁶ Sam Farrar (bassist for Phantom Planet and former roommate of Levine and Valentine) says that the Aaliyah song "Are You That Somebody?" affected the band and influenced the song "Not Coming Home."² Jordan Felstein, a friend of Levine's family and a junior agent at ICM, stopped by one of the band's rehearsal's and was so surprised by what he heard that he quit his job in order to manage the band full time.⁶ The band put together a demo that was rejected by several labels, before falling into the hand of the executives at Octone Records--James Diener, Ben Berkman and David Boxenbaum.⁶ Especially impressed with "Sunday Morning," Berkman encouraged the other three to fly out to L.A. to observe Kara's Flowers at their showcase gig at the Viper Room. After watching Levine onstage, they were convinced, and Kara's Flowers became the new label's first act.⁶

Octone immediately insisted that the band change its name to break with its pop-rock past. Also, the label began looking for a full-time guitarist to enable Levine to focus on performing as the frontman. James Valentine (from the L.A. band Square) was recruited for the job.⁶ Even still, the only that songs of their repertoire that showcased the band's new direction were "Sunday Morning" and the soon-to-be-written "She Will Be Loved" — neither of which the label approved of as a first single. The band toured for a full year before entering the studio with producer Matt Wallace.⁹ Levine's frustration with Berkman's demands for a lead single inspired him to write just that — a song called "Harder to Breathe".⁶

Songs About Jane (2001–2006)

Maroon 5 was constantly on tour after releasing their album in mid-2002. Their first major tour was the 2002 Jeep World Outside, a "grassroots" summer festival tour with such acts as O.A.R., Ziggy Marley, Train and headliner Sheryl Crow.¹⁰

Valentine attended Berklee music school with John Mayer in 1996 where they developed a rapport. In 2002, the two reconnected at a Mayer radio appearance. After Mayer heard their album, he was so impressed (particularly by "This Love") that he invited them to open for him during his early 2003 tour.² The first single "Harder to Breathe" slowly started to pick up airplay which helped spur sales of the album. By March 2004, the album had reached the Top 20 of the Billboard 200 and "Harder to Breathe" had made the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts. The album peaked at #6 on the Billboard 200 in September 2004,¹¹ 26 months after its release; this was the longest period between an album's release and its initial Top 10 appearance since SoundScan results were included in the Billboard 200 in 1991.¹² Mayer invited the band to open for him again in 2004.¹⁰

Over the next three years, the band toured virtually non-stop, including visits to seventeen countries. During this time, the band toured with Michelle Branch, Nikka Costa, Vanessa Carlton, Graham Colton, and The Rolling Stones.¹³ Others they have toured alongside include Gavin DeGraw, Matchbox Twenty, Sugar Ray, Counting Crows, Phantom Planet, The Hives, Dashboard Confessional, Big City Rock, The Like, Simon Dawes, Jason Mraz, The Thrills, Thirsty Merc, Marc Broussard, The Donnas, The RedWest, Michael Tolcher and Guster.

Songs About Jane eventually reached #2 on the Australian albums charts¹⁴ while "Harder to Breathe" made the Top 20 singles charts in the US¹⁵ and UK,¹⁴ and Top 40 in Australia and New Zealand.¹⁴ The album also eventually climbed to #1 in the UK and #2 in Australia.¹⁴ The second single, " This Love," reached #5 in the US,¹⁵ #3 in the UK, and #8 in Australia.¹⁴ The third single, "She Will Be Loved," reached the Top 5 in both the US¹⁵ and the UK, and went to #1 in Australia.¹⁴ The fourth single, "Sunday Morning," reached the Top 40 in the US,¹⁵ UK, and Australia.¹⁴

Maroon 5 also played Live 8, in Philadelphia in 2005. Their set included a cover of Neil Young's "Rockin' In The Free World" and frontman Levine performed with one of his heroes, and the closing act, Stevie Wonder.¹⁶ On May 13, 2005, in Santa Barbara, California, the band wrapped up the Honda Civic Tour, which they headlined.¹⁷ On June 9, 2005, the band performed at the American Film Institute's tribute to filmmaker George Lucas. Lucas himself had selected Maroon 5 for the event, as they were his children's favorite band at the time.¹⁸

Dusick's departure and Flynn's arrival (2004–2006)

Over the years of touring with the band, percussionist and back-up vocalist Ryan Dusick had been suffering from the touring life. By 2004, he was known to treat his "rampant tendinitis" with huge ice-packs after performances.² His arms were injured and, for a part of some tours, he was not able to drum. In his section of Midnight Miles, Dusick detailed his pain and its progression through their tours. The strains of non-stop touring aggravated an old sports injury.¹ It was during the band's early tour that he took his first break with Ryland Steen of Reel Big Fish taking his place for a few shows. He returned for the next tour but was forced to take another break because, as he writes, "I deteriorated to such a degree that both of my arms were pretty much useless."²⁰ Josh Day was to be his replacement for a few shows while Dusick underwent tests to determine the cause of his pain. Nine months passed and Matt Flynn, Gavin DeGraw and The B-52's former drummer, assumed the position of what was initially a temporary replacement, but Dusick officially left Maroon 5 in September 2006 with Flynn replacing him permanently.²¹

It Won't Be Soon Before Long (2006–2008)

Adam Levine, Maroon 5

After recording for most of 2006, in May 2007, Maroon 5's second album, It Won't Be Soon Before Long, was released worldwide by A&M/Octone Records.²² According to Levine, the follow-up to Songs About Jane is "sexier and stronger",²³ gaining inspiration from iconic 80s artists such as Prince, Shabba Ranks, Michael Jackson and Talking Heads.²⁴ Before its release, "Makes Me Wonder" was the #1 selling single and video on iTunes.²³ It was also the #1 selling album, with more than 50,000 digital pre-sales.²³ After its release, the album broke iTunes sales records its week of release, selling over 101,000 albums.²⁵ The first single, "Makes Me Wonder," was released to radio March 27, 2007. The making of the music video was previewed on MTV's Total Request Live, and premiered on the show March 29. The song debuted at number 84 on the Billboard Hot 100, the lowest debuting single of the group's five chart entries. In the first week of May, the single skyrocketed from a lowly position of #64 to #1, the biggest jump in Billboard history at the time.²⁶ "Makes Me Wonder" has also achieved #1 on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs, Pop 100, and Hot Dance Club Play charts.²⁷

To support the album, the band performed on a "six-date club tour" in which they visited small venues in Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Miami, and New York City in early June 2007.²⁸ They followed with a concert that streamed live via MSN Music in mid-June.²⁹ On July 10, they opened for The Police, in Miami,³⁰ and followed with an acoustic performance at the Miami club, Studio A, the next day.³¹ Their 2007 It Won't Be Soon Before Long world tour began September 29 in Detroit and concluded November 10 in Las Vegas.³² The Hives, as the tour's special guest, performed on all of the dates while Sara Bareilles, Kevin Michael, and Phantom Planet each performed in a portion of the tour.³³ They are currently touring with Dashboard Confessional in their world tour and, beginning March 28, 2008, they will tour with OneRepublic, Brandi Carlile, and Ry Cuming. They have also performed "Makes Me Wonder" on season 6 of American Idol and "If I Never See Your Face Again" on season 7 of American Idol. The re-release of the album featured a new duet version of "If I Never See Your Face Again" with Rihanna; the new version of the song also appeared on the re-release of Rihanna's album Good Girl Gone Bad. Recently, they have released as the album's 5th single "Goodnight Goodnight" which will be reaching the radio soon.

Levine has stated that he believes the band is reaching its peak and may make one more album before disbanding.³⁴ 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."³⁵ The band hopes to have a new album ready by early 2010.³⁶

The band will also perform in Salt Lake City for the Omniture conference.

Explicit content

The music video for "This Love" featured lead singer Adam Levine and his then-girlfriend, model Kelly McKee, in extended sex scenes. The video used creative camera angles to show as much as possible without actually revealing any of the couple's genitalia, thereby avoiding possible FCC action.³⁷ A version of the video where a stream of computer-generated flowers cover up more was created for more conservative markets.³⁸ When asked about his feelings on this, Levine commented, "That was ridiculous."³⁹ Bassist Madden called it "an absurd over-reaction."⁴⁰

More steamy scenes appeared in the video for "She Will Be Loved," which featured a love triangle and sexual imagery involving Levine and actress Kelly Preston, the wife of actor John Travolta.⁴¹ The video for "Wake Up Call" also contains such material and also presented as a trailer for a fictional NC-17 rated movie. Giving insight into his view on violence in entertainment, in 1999 Levine wrote a letter to the editors contradicting an article that linked school shootings with the film Natural Born Killers, saying "where people copied the violence they saw elsewhere only speaks to the disturbed nature of these individuals and their lack of originality."⁴²

Band members

• Adam Levine - lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1994–present)
• Jesse Carmichael - keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1994–present)
• Mickey Madden - bass guitar (1994–present)
• James Valentine - lead guitar, backing vocals (2001–present)
• Matt Flynn - drums, percussion (2006–present)

Former members

• Ryan Dusick - drums, percussion, backing vocals (1994–2006)

Discography

• The Fourth World (1997) as Kara's Flowers
• Songs About Jane (2002)
• It Won't Be Soon Before Long (2007)

Awards And Nominations

2004

• Billboard Music Award — Digital Artist of the Year⁴³
• MTV Europe Music Award — Best New Act
• MTV Video Music Awards Latin America — Best Rock Artist, International
• MTV Video Music Awards Latin America — Best New Artist, International
• New Music Weekly Award — AC40 Group/Duo of the Year
• Teen Choice Award — Choice Breakout Artist
• World Music Award — World's Best New Group⁴⁴

2005

• Grammy Award — Best New Artist
• Grammy Award — Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal for "This Love" (Live - Friday the 13th version)⁴⁵
• Groovevolt Music and Fashion Award — Best Collaboration, Duo or Group for "She Will Be Loved"⁴⁶
• NRJ Radio Awards — International Breakout Act & Best International Song for "This Love"⁴⁷

2007

• Billboard Music Award — Top Digital Album for "It Won't Be Soon Before Long"
• Grammy Award — Best Pop Performance by A Duo or Group With Vocals "Makes Me Wonder"
• Grammy Award — Best Pop Vocal Album "It Won't Be Soon Before Long" (Nominated)

2009

• Grammy Award — Best Pop Performance by A Duo or Group With Vocals "Won't Go Home Without You" (Nominated)
• Grammy Award — Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals"If I Never See Your Face Again" (with Rihanna) (Nominated)

Footnotes

References

• Kimpel, Dan (2006), How They Made It: True Stories of How Music's Biggest Stars Went from Start to Stardom!. Location unknown:Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 0634076426

External links

• Official website
• Maroon 5 at MySpace
• Maroon 5 at the Internet Movie Database
• Maroon 5 channel at YouTube