Maroon 5

Maroon 5
Maroon5.jpg
Background information
Origin Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Genre(s) Pop rock
Years active 1994–2001 as Kara's Flowers
2001–present as Maroon 5
Label(s) A&M/Octone
Website www.Maroon5.com
Members
Adam Levine
James Valentine
Jesse Carmichael
Michael Madden
Matt Flynn
Former members
Ryan Dusick

Maroon 5 is a Grammy Award-winning American pop rock band. Formed with only two members at the French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts and expanded in Los Angeles, the group comprises five members: Adam Levine (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Valentine (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jesse Carmichael (keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Mickey Madden (bass guitar), and Matt Flynn (drums, percussion).

Maroon 5 has won several awards for its debut album Songs About Jane. Released in June 2002, the album enjoyed major chart success, going gold, platinum, and triple platinum in many countries around the world.[1] In support of Songs About Jane, Maroon 5 toured extensively throughout 2003 – 2005, in which a live album was released, entitled Live - Friday the 13th. Original member Ryan Dusick left the band in September 2006, due to injuries sustained by the constant touring, and was replaced by Matt Flynn.

After a hiatus from the music scene, Maroon 5 released their second studio album, It Won't Be Soon Before Long in May 2007, five years after Songs About Jane. The second set debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of nearly half a million. The album has since gone on to become 2x platinum with 2 million albums sold in the United States alone and over 3.5 million world wide. 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 will tour with Counting Crows and Sara Bareilles.

Contents

History

Kara's Flowers and formation (1994–2001)

3 members of Maroon 5 have known each other since attending junior high school together in Los Angeles. While attending Brentwood School, Adam Levine and Jesse Carmichael joined up with Mickey Madden and Ryan Dusick to form Kara's Flowers,[2] a garage/grunge band that played its first gig at the Whisky a Go Go on September 16, 1995. When Valentine joined Kara's Flowers in 2001, the band adopted the name Maroon 5. The band played showcase gigs in New York City and Los Angeles. Levine credited the interim period with influencing the band's new style stating:

“ I spent a lot of time in New York where I was exposed to an urban and hip-hop culture in a way that had never happened to me in L.A. It turned me on to an entirely new genre of music which has had a profound impact on my songwriting.[3] ”

With their new found attitude, a new sound and a new name, Maroon 5 quickly attracted attention from labels. These labels, in contrast of their actual attitude, looked upon their music too concerned with sex and sex-related topics. Therefore, the band had a struggle creating their next releases. Octone Records, a new independent record label based in New York, signed the group, and in 2001 Maroon 5 entered the studio with producer Matt Wallace.[4]

Songs About Jane (2001–2003)

Main article: Songs About Jane

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,[5] 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.[6]

Songs About Jane eventually reached #2 on the Australian albums charts[7] while "Harder to Breathe" made the Top 20 singles charts in the U.S.[8] and UK,[7] and Top 40 in Australia and New Zealand.[7] The album also eventually climbed to #1 in the UK and #2 in Australia.[7] The second single, " This Love," reached #5 in the U.S.,[8] #3 in the UK, and #8 in Australia.[7] The third single, "She Will Be Loved," reached the Top 5 in both the U.S.[8] and the UK, and went to #1 in Australia.[7] The fourth single, "Sunday Morning," reached the Top 40 in the U.S.,[8] UK, and Australia.[7]

Constant touring and Dusick leaving (2003–2006)

Maroon 5 was constantly on tour after releasing their album in mid-2002. During this time, the band toured with Michelle Branch, Nikka Costa, Vanessa Carlton, Graham Colton, John Mayer, and The Rolling Stones.[9] 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 and Guster.

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.[10] On May 13, 2005, in Santa Barbara, California, the band wrapped up the Honda Civic Tour, which they headlined.[11] 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.[12]

Over the years of touring with the band, percussionist and back-up vocalist Ryan Dusick had been suffering from the touring life. 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. It was during the band's early tour that he took his first break with Ryland Steen 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."[13] 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'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.[14]

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

Adam Levine, Maroon 5
Main article: It Won't Be Soon Before Long

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.[15] According to Levine, the follow-up to Songs About Jane is "sexier and stronger",[16] gaining inspiration from iconic 80s artists such as Prince, Shabba Ranks, Michael Jackson and Talking Heads.[17] Before its release, "Makes Me Wonder" was the #1 selling single and video on iTunes.[16] It was also the #1 selling album, with more than 50,000 digital pre-sales.[16] After its release, the album broke iTunes sales records its week of release, selling over 101,000 albums.[18] The first single, "Makes Me Wonder," was released to radio August 15, 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.[19] "Makes Me Wonder" has also achieved #1 on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs, Pop 100, and Hot Dance Club Play charts.[20]

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.[21] They followed with a concert that streamed live via MSN Music in mid-June.[22] On July 10, they opened for The Police, in Miami,[23] and followed with an acoustic performance at the Miami club, Studio A, the next day.[24] Their 2007 It Won't Be Soon Before Long world tour began September 29 in Detroit and concluded November 10 in Las Vegas.[25] 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.[26] 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 and probably final single "Goodnight Goodnight" which will be reaching the radio soon.

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.[27] A version of the video where a stream of computer-generated flowers cover up more was created for more conservative markets.[28] When asked about his feelings on this, Levine commented, "That was ridiculous."[29] Bassist Madden called it "an absurd over-reaction."[30]

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.[31] The video for "Wake Up Call" also contains such material and also presented as a trailer for a fictional NC-17 rated movie.

Neither Songs About Jane or It Won't Be Soon Before Long bear a Parental Advisory label,[32][33] in spite of the strong language and explicit nature of lines in the singles "Harder to Breathe" and "Makes Me Wonder" respectively.

Band members

Former members

Discography

Main article: Maroon 5 discography
Studio Albums
Remix Albums

Awards

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Evanescence		 Grammy Award for Best New Artist
2005		 Succeeded by
John Legend

References

  1. ↑ Lamy, Jonathan (December 21, 2004). "Goodbye, 2004. Hello, 2005!". RIAA. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  2. ↑ McIntosh, Gregory. "kara's flowers". Allmusic. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  3. ↑ "Maroon 5 Bio". Artistdirect. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  4. ↑ http://www.maroon5.com/lo_fi/bio.php Maroon 5's Official Biography
  5. ↑ "Maroon 5 Discography - Songs About Jane". Billboard. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  6. ↑ Michaels, Mitch (May 22, 2007). "Maroon 5 It Won't Be Soon Before Long Review". 411mania. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 "Maroon 5 Album Performance". aCHarts.us. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 "Chart History - Maroon 5". Billboard (2007). Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  9. ↑ "The Rolling Stones — A Bigger Bang World Tour Warmup Acts". IORR.org (2005). Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  10. ↑ "Maroon 5 with Stevie Wonder at Live 8". Rolling Stone (July 2, 2005). Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  11. ↑ "Maroon 5 Headlines 2005 Honda Civic Tour". Motor Trend (February 4, 2005). Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  12. ↑ "33rd AFI Life Achievement Award". AFI.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-28.
  13. ↑ Vineyard, Jennifer (June 20, 2006). "Maroon 5 Book Goes Backstage At Jane Tours, Addresses Drummer's Health Struggles". MTV. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  14. ↑ Moss, Corey (March 6, 2007). "Maroon 5 Back With 'Harder' Album After Adam Levine Gets Sick Of Partying". MTV. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  15. ↑ Peters, Mitchell (March 12, 2007). "Maroon 5 Finds Its Groove On Sophomore Album". Billboard. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Baber, Darren (April 26, 2007). "Maroon 5 Dominates iTunes Sales Chart With Three Simultaneous Number Ones". PR Newswire. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  17. ↑ Pollock, Duncan (2007). "Review: It Won't Be Soon Before Long — Maroon 5". Jacarandafm.com (94.2 FM). Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  18. ↑ "Maroon 5 album breaks iTunes sales record". MacNN.com (May 30, 2007). Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  19. ↑ Bronson, Fred (May 2, 2007). "Chart Beat". Billboard.com. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  20. ↑ "Artist Chart History: Maroon 5". Billboard.com (2007). Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  21. ↑ MTV News staff (May 4, 2007). "Jessica Biel Wants Respect, Plus Nelly Furtado, Hilary Duff, Sum 41, Borat, Eve, Diddy, Ozzy & More In For The Record". MTV News. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  22. ↑ "Maroon 5 Live from Le Cabaret". MSN Music (June 14, 2007). Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  23. ↑ "No Need to 'Wonder' - Maroon 5 Debuts at #1". PR Newswire. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  24. ↑ "Reminder - Miami Studio a Make Up Show Information: Tues 7/11 @ 3:00pm". Maroon5.com (July 10, 2007). Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  25. ↑ "Maroon 5 Announces Plans for 2007 'It Won't Be Soon Before Long' World Tour". KEYT3 Santa Barbara (July 9, 2007). Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  26. ↑ "Tour Announcement!". Maroon5.com (July 9, 2007). Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  27. ↑ Uncensored music video for "This Love" at YouTube
  28. ↑ Censored music video for "This Love" at YouTube
  29. ↑ Voss, Brandon (May 22, 2007). "Big Gay Following - Adam Levine". The Advocate. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  30. ↑ Bergmann, Caitlin. "An iVillage Exclusive Q&A with Maroon 5". iVillage.com. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  31. ↑ Maroon 5, "She Will Be Loved" (Music video) (2005). Octone Records/J/RCA Music Group. Retrieved on July 26, 2007.
  32. ↑ "Songs About Jane review". CommonSenseMedia.org. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  33. ↑ "It Won't Be Soon Before Long review". CommonSenseMedia.org. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  34. ↑ "2004 Billboard Music Awards Winners". iVillage Entertainment (December 2004). Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  35. ↑ "Full Biography — Maroon 5". MTV (2007). Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  36. ↑ "World Music Awards storm Vegas". USA Today (September 16, 2004). Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  37. ↑ Roth, Kaj (February 19, 2005). "Maroon 5 wins GRAMMY!". Melodic.net. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  38. ↑ "Pop Awards". GrooveVolt.com (2005). Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  39. ↑ "Maroon 5 Triumph at NRJ Music Awards". ContactMusic.com (January 23, 2005). Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  40. ↑ Moss, Corey (February 24, 2006). "They Just Won A Grammy, So Why Do Maroon 5 Feel Like Losers?". MTV. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.

External links

Maroon 5
Adam Levine · James Valentine · Jesse Carmichael · Michael Madden · Matt Flynn
Studio albums
Songs About Jane · It Won't Be Soon Before Long
Live albums
1.22.03.Acoustic · Live – Friday the 13th · Live from SoHo · Live from Le Cabaret
Compilations
The B-Side Collection · Call and Response: The Remix Album
Singles
"Harder to Breathe" · "This Love" · "She Will Be Loved" · "Sunday Morning" · "Must Get Out" · "Makes Me Wonder" · "Wake Up Call" · "Won't Go Home Without You" · "If I Never See Your Face Again" · "Goodnight Goodnight"
Related
Discography · The Fourth World