Biography

Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band that originates from Los Angeles, California. The group was originally formed in 1994 as Kara’s Flowers while its members were still attending high school. With a line-up of Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden and Ryan Dusick, they signed to Reprise Records and released an album, The Fourth World, in 1997. After a tepid response to the album, the band parted ways with their record label and attended college. In 2001, the band regrouped and added James Valentine to the lineup, and pursued a new direction under the name Maroon 5.

History

Maroon 5 signed with Octone Records and released their debut under the title Songs About Jane in June 2002. The album’s lead single – “Harder to Breathe” – received heavy airplay, which helped the album to debut at number six on the US Billboard 200 chart. The album’s second and third singles, “This Love” and “She Will Be Loved”, became worldwide hits reaching the top-five on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The band won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2005. For the next few years, the band toured extensively worldwide in support of Songs About Jane and issued two live recordings: 2004’s 1.22.03.Acoustic and 2005’s Live – Friday the 13th. In 2006, drummer, percussionist and backing vocalist Ryan Dusick departed the band and subsequently replaced by Matt Flynn. The revised band recorded their second album It Won’t Be Soon Before Long in early 2007 and released it in May the same year. The album peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, while its lead single, “Makes Me Wonder”, became the band’s first number-one song on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Hands All Over, the band’s third studio album, was released in September 2010 and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 chart. In 2011, the album was reissued and supported by their single “Moves like Jagger” which features American singer Christina Aguilera. The song became the band’s second single to reach number one on the Hot 100 chart; it has sold over 8.5 million copies worldwide making it one of the best-selling singles worldwide. Maroon 5 released their fourth studio album Overexposed in June 2012. The album peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 chart. Its first two singles, “Payphone” and “One More Night”, were both international hits and peaked at two and one on the Hot 100 chart respectively.

Since its debuting in 2002, the band has sold over 10 million albums in the United States, and over 27 million albums worldwide. Also, they have sold over 15 million digital singles in the United States.