About Maroon 5
Maroon 5 [ca. 1997] was formed as the group “Kara’s Flowers” before giving way to its current moniker. The Los Angeles-based group, primarily known for its pop-rock sound, owes its existence to an original collaboration between guitarist and lead singer Adam Levine [b. 1979] and keyboard player Jesse Carmichael [b. 1979], when the two were in high school together in California. Their original ensemble had a recording contract with Reprise records that yielded a lone album—The Fourth World—but its lack of commercial success caused the four-member group to disband.
After attending two years of college together across the country at New York’s Five Towns College (Dix Hills, Long Island), the duo dropped out and returned to Los Angeles. There they reconstituted their former band—rejoining drummer Ryan Dusick and bass player Mickey Madden—while adding guitarist James Valentine to the mix to create Maroon 5.
The musical style of the original group is best described as garage/grunge rock. However, both Levine and Carmichael were clearly influenced by the music they were hearing from their largely African-American schoolmates at Five Towns College—hip-hop, gospel, and rhythm-and-blues—and they brought these elements back with them to the West Coast. The songs they wrote in this new style caused a stir in the clubs they played around greater Los Angeles in 2000, leading to a demo deal with MCA Records. Although the three tracks they recorded for MCA were never released, the group eventually was signed by A&M/Octone Records, which served as Maroon 5’s breakout album, Songs About Jane [2002]. From that point though 2005 the band was constantly on tour, traveling to 17 countries and sharing the stage with such groups as Matchbox Twenty, Counting Crows, and The Rolling Stones. The hectic schedule proved too much for drummer Dusick, and Matt Flynn, formerly of the B-52’s, replaced him in September 2006.
Maroon 5 Singles
Moves Like Jagger (feat. Christina Aguilera)
A&M/Octone
35 chart entries peaking at #2 on Sunday 4 September 2011
