Maroon 5

Maroon 5

Maroon 5 are a Grammy Award-winning American pop rock band.

Their debut album Songs About Jane, released in June 2002, received major chart success, going gold, platinum, and triple platinum in many countries around the world.

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 album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of nearly half a million. The album has since gone on to become platinum with 1.8 million albums sold in the United States alone and over 3.5 million worldwide.

History

Kara's Flowers and formation (1995-2001)

Three members of Maroon 5 have known each other since attending junior high school together in Los Angeles. While at school, Adam Levine and Jesse Carmichael joined up with Mickey Madden and Ryan Dusick to form Kara's Flowers, a garage/grunge band.

When James Valentine joined Kara's Flowers in 2001, the band adopted the name Maroon 5 and went onto do showcase gigs in New York City and Los Angeles.

Octone Records, a new independent record label based in New York, were interested in the band and went onto sign the group.

Songs About Jane (2001-2003)

Maroon 5's debut album, Songs About Jane peaked at #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.

The album would also eventually climb to #1 in the UK and #2 in Australia.

The second single, "This Love" reached #5 in the U.S., #3 in the UK, and #8 in Australia.

The third single, "She Will Be Loved" reached the Top 5 in both the U.S. and the UK, and went to #1 in Australia.

The fourth single, "Sunday Morning" reached the Top 40 in the U.S., UK, and Australia.

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

In May 2007, Maroon 5's second album, It Won't Be Soon Before Long, was released worldwide by A&M/Octone Records.

With more than 50,000 digital pre-sales, the album became the number 1 album on iTunes. After its release, the album broke iTunes sales records its week of release, selling over 101,000 albums.

The first single, "Makes Me Wonder" was released on March 27th, 2007 and debuted at number 84 on the Billboard Hot 100.

This was the lowest debuting single of the group's five chart entries, although it would climb from 64 to #1, the biggest jump in Billboard history.

Trivia

In 2005, the band performed at a tribute to filmmaker George Lucas. Lucas himself selected Maroon 5 for the event, as they were his children's favourite band at the time.

For their second album It won't be soon, before - Adam Levine (Vocals) lists iconic 80s artists such as Shabba Ranks and Prince as influences.

Original member Ryan Dusick left the band in September 2006, due to injuries sustained by the constant touring and was replaced by Matt Flynn.