Maroon 5
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Maroon 5 is a Grammy Award-winning pop band from Los Angeles, California. Their debut album Songs about Jane was released in June 2002 and enjoyed chart success from 2003-2005.
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Members
- Adam Levine (vocals/guitar)
- Jesse Carmichael (keyboards)
- Mickey Madden (bass)
- Ryan Dusick (drums)
- James Valentine (guitar)
Kara's Flowers
The members of Maroon 5 had been friends since attending junior high school in Los Angeles at Brentwood School. Adam Levine (vocals/guitar), Jesse Carmichael (keyboards), Mickey Madden (bass) and Ryan Dusick (drums) formed Kara's Flowers which played its first gig at the Whisky A Go-Go on September 16 1995.
The band signed with Reprise Records and released its first and only album the Fourth World in the middle of 1997. Despite support slots on tours by Reel Big Fish and Goldfinger, the album failed to take off commercially and in 1999, the band parted company with Reprise Records.
Maroon 5
Guitarist James Valentine joined Kara's Flowers and the band renamed itself Maroon 5. The band played show case gigs in New York City and Los Angeles. Adam Levine credited the interregnum for influencing the band's new style in an interview with VH1. "During the time between our record deals, 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 song writing." The band signed with Octone Records, a New York independent label with distribution through BMG and an artist development deal with Clive Davis' J Records.
May 13th the band wrapped up the Honda Civic Tour, which they headlined, in Santa Barbara, California.
Songs About Jane
The band recorded Songs About Jane at Rumbo Recorders in Los Angeles with producer Matt Wallace, who had also produced for Train, Blues Traveler and Third Eye Blind. After the release of the album in mid-2002, the band toured with Michelle Branch and Nikki Costa. In early summer 2003, they toured with Graham Colton, John Mayer and Counting Crows.
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 Number 6 on the Billboard 200 in August 2004, 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. Songs about Jane had also eventually made the top 10 Australian albums charts while "Harder to Breathe" had made the top 20 singles charts in the UK, and top 40 in Australia and New Zealand. The album also eventually climbed to number 1 in the UK and Australia. The second single "This Love" had also made the US and Australian top 10 and even UK and Dutch top 3 singles charts. The third single, "She Will Be Loved", reached the top 5 in both the UK and the US, and went to number 1 in Australia. The fourth single, "Sunday Morning", also reached the top 40 in the US, UK and Australia.
The group won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2005.
"This Love" video
The music video for "This Love" featured lead singer Adam Levine and his then real-life girlfriend model Kelly McGee in some steamy sex scenes. The video used creative camera angles to show as much as possible without actually revealing any of the couple's private parts, thereby avoiding possible FCC action. A version of the video where a stream of computer-generated flowers cover up more, however, was made for more conservative markets (such as some parts of Latin America).
Band trivia
- The reason behind the name of the band is known only to the members of the band, Billy Joel and James' mom.
- Tourmates include John Mayer, Michelle Branch, Gavin DeGraw, Phantom Planet, The Like, Jason Mraz, The Thrills and The Donnas.
- They've participated in (and lost) MTV's Staremaster against fellow band and friends, Phantom Planet.
- The day that they celebrated their 10th year anniversary as a band (6 February 2004), was the same day that Songs About Jane went platinum.
- The band does not like the cover-art of their CD.
Discography
Albums
- Songs About Jane (2002) (3x Platinum)
- 1.22.03.Acoustic (2004) (1x Platinum)
Singles
- 2003 "Harder to Breathe" #18 US, #13 UK (2004 release) GOLD
- 2004 "This Love" #5 US, #3 UK PLATINUM
- 2004 "She Will Be Loved" #5 US, #4 UK 3x PLATINUM
- 2004 "Sunday Morning" #31 US, #27 UK (2005 release) GOLD
- 2005 "Must Get Out" #39 UK
(GOLD) = single shippments of 200,000 or more (PLATINUM) = single shipments of 400,000 or more (times number)
External links
- Maroon 5 Web Site (http://www.maroon5.com/main_site/main.html)
- VH1 Maroon 5 biography (http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/maroon_5/bio.jhtml)
- Maroon 5 All Music Guide entry (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=UIDMISS70311071654390588&sql=Btj9fs39qa3dg)
- Top 40 Charts artist entry (http://top40-charts.com/artist.php?aid=3653)
- Maroon 5 Lyrics (http://www.go2lyrics.com/M/Maroon+5/)
- Maroon 5 Pictures (http://www.tombraider4u.com/maroon5/maroon-5-pictures.shtml)